High-resolution K-shell photoionization cross-sections for the C-like atomic nitrogen ion (N+) are reported in the 398 eV (31.15 Å) to 450 eV (27.55 Å) energy (wavelength) range. The results were obtained from absolute ion-yield measurements using the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation facility for spectral bandpasses of 65 meV or 250 meV. In the photon energy region 398 eV - 403 eV, 1s⟶2p autoionizing resonance states dominated the cross section spectrum. Analyses of the experimental profiles yielded resonance strengths and Auger widths. In the 415 eV - 440 eV photon region 1s⟶1s2s22p2 4Pnp and 1s⟶1s2s22p2 2Pnp resonances forming well-developed Rydberg series up n=7 and n=8 , respectively, were identified in both the single and double ionization spectra. Theoretical photoionization cross-section calculations, performed using the R-matrix plus pseudo-states (RMPS) method and the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) approach were bench marked against these high-resolution experimental results. Comparison of the state-of-the-art theoretical work with the experimental studies allowed the identification of new resonance features. Resonance strengths, energies and Auger widths (where available) are compared quantitatively with the theoretical values. Contributions from excited metastable states of the N+ ions were carefully considered throughout.

In this paper, a new multi parameter iterative algorithm is proposed to address the PageRank problem based on the multi-splitting iteration method described by Gu et al . The proposed method in each iteration needs to solve two linear subsystems by splitting the coefficient matrix, therefore, we consider inner and outer iteration to find the approximate solutions of these linear subsystems. It can be shown that the iterative sequence generated by the multi parameter iterative algorithm finally converges to the PageRank vector when the parameters satisfy the certain conditions. Numerical experiments show that the proposed algorithm has better convergence and numerical stability than the existing algorithms.

Dilation of contractions on Hilbert space and Banach space is classical. Recently, dilations theory has been put in the setting of sets, vector spaces, p-adic Hilbert spaces and modules. In this paper, we derive important dilation results for self-adjoint morphisms on indefinite inner product modules over *-rings of characteristic 2. More precisely, we prove indefinite inner product versions of Halmos dilation, Egervary N-dilation and Sz.-Nagy dilation.

In recent years, a large-scale afforestation campaign has taken place in Inner Mongolia, China, to control desertification and soil erosion. However, the water consumption associated with large-scale afforestation significantly impacts the water resources in Inner Mongolia, resulting in a substantial ecological risk. This study aimed to evaluate the ecological risk of water resources caused by afforestation in the region. In this study, based on land cover data, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, and meteorological data, used trend analysis, water balance equation, and Water resources Security Index (WSI) index to analyze the ecological risks of water resources caused by afforestation in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2020. The results show that:(1) The afforestation area in Inner Mongolia was 5.37×104 km2 in 2000-2020; (2) Afforestation in arid and semi-arid areas leads to the reduction of water resources. (3) Afforestation reduces water resources in the study area by 0.76×108m3/year; (4) ~76% of afforestation regions face ecological risks of water resources.

Two novel core-shell composites SiO2@PMDA-Si-Tb, SiO2@PMDA-Si-Tb-phen with SiO2 as the core and terbium organic complex as the shell, were successfully synthesized. The terbium ion was coordinated with organic ligand forming terbium organic complex in the shell layer. The bi-functional organosilane ((HOOC)2C6H2(CONH(CH2)3Si(OCH2CH3)3)2 (abbreviated as PMDA-Si) was used as the first ligand and phen as the second ligand. Furthermore, the silica-modified SiO2@PMDA-Si-Tb@SiO2, SiO2@PMDA-Si-Tb-phen@SiO2 core-shell-shell composites were also synthesized by sol–gel chemical route. An amorphous silica shell was coated around the SiO2@PMDA-Si-Tb and SiO2@PMDA-Si-Tb-phen core-shell composites. The core-shell and core-shell-shell composites both exhibited excellent luminescence in solid state. The luminescence of core-shell-shell composites was stronger than that of core-shell composites. Meanwhile, an improved luminescence stability property for the core-shell-shell composites was found in the aqueous solution. The core-shell-shell composites exhibited bright luminescence, high stability, long lifetime, and good solubility, which may present potential applications in the field of bio-medical.

Core-shell particles are heterogenous micro- or nanoparticles with solid, liquid or gas core encapsulated by a protective solid shell. The unique composition of core and shell materials imparts smart properties to the particles. Core-shell particles are gaining increasing attention as tuneable and versatile carriers for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications including targeted drug delivery, controlled drug release, and biosensing. This review first provides an overview of fabrication methods for core-shell particles, followed by a brief discussion on their application and a detailed analysis on manipulation including assembly, sorting, and triggered release. We compile current methodologies employed for manipulation of core-shell particles and demonstrate how existing methods of assembly and sorting micro/nanospheres can be adopted or modified for core-shell particles. Various triggered release approaches for diagnostics and drug delivery are also discussed in detail.

The essay focuses, from a sociological perspective, on the phenomenon of depopulation of Inner Areas in Italy. In this areas, younger generations, live a great inequality that exposed them to risk of social vulnerability. So, on the one hand, the desire to leave their community is growing among younger, on the other hand, the desire to deal with extreme adverse conditions is falling down. The research aims to explore the depopulation phenomenon in the context of Southern Italy, considering it as an emerging social vulnerability that impacts very deeply onto the sustainability of a social, economic and community systems such as the Molise region one. The following paper therefore presents an empirical web-survey conducted in the Molise region. The methodology used is Quantitative, and the research design is Exploratory. The essay underlines how proximity welfare can act as a flywheel to counter the depopulation Inner Areas of Italy enacted by the younger generations.

Hearing loss stands as the most prevalent sensory deficit among humans, posing a significant global health challenge. Projections indicate that by 2050, approximately 10% of the world's population will grapple with disabling hearing impairment. While approximately half of these cases have a genetic etiology, traditional interventions such as hearing aids and cochlear implants do not completely restore normal hearing. The absence of biological treatment has prompted significant efforts in recent years, with a strong focus on gene therapy to address hereditary hearing loss. Although several studies have exhibited promising recovery of common forms of genetic deafness in mouse models, existing challenges must be overcome to make gene therapy applicable in the near future. Herein, we summarize the primary gene therapy strategies employed over past years, provide an overview of the recent achievements in the preclinical studies for genetic hearing loss, and outline the current key obstacles to cochlear gene therapy.

Clarifying the response of plant phenology to drought duration is helpful for accurately interpreting and predicting carbon sinks in ecosystems. Based on the response of different phenological periods of the dominant species Stipa krylovii to monthly, seasonal and semiannual time scale drought in the typical steppe of Inner Mongolia from 1983 to 2018, the results revealed that (1) the start of the growing season (SOS) was characterized by an advance-delay-advance pattern, and the heading stage (HOS), flowering stage (FOS) and end of the growing season (EOS) all showed consistent advanced trends, which provided additional insight into the conclusions of previous studies that found the SOS was advanced in arid and semiarid regions. (2) The response mechanism of the SOS to the timing of drought was not consistent. Among the response mechanism, the SOS was delayed because of January-February drought at different time scales, but advanced because of April drought at different time scales. The HOS/FOS was delayed by June-July drought at different time scales, and the EOS was advanced by August-September drought at different time scales. (3) More importantly, the SOS, HOS, FOS and EOS were affected by predrought and its persistence, and the effects were greater the closer to the phenological periods that drought occurred. (4) At the monthly scale, droughts in January, June and August were the critical drought periods affecting the SOS, HOS/FOS and EOS, while seasonal and semiannual scale droughts in February, June-July and September were the critical periods affecting the SOS, HOS/FOS and EOS. The results of this study enrich our understanding of how drought at different time scales affects different phenological periods, providing a basis for improving plant phenological models.

The aim of this paper is to determine a suitable definition for the concept of fuzzy Hilbert space. In order to achieve this, we firstly focused on various approaches from the already-existent literature. Then we considered another approach to the notion of fuzzy inner product and analysed its properties.

The study is based on the results of long-term field studies, satellite and aerial data analysis. In the maximum of the Little Ice Age (LIA) 243 glaciers with a total area of 353.4 km2 were reconstructed. By the results of interpretation of Corona images by 1968 the number of glaciers increased (236), the total area reduced to 242 km2. In 2010 glaciation was represented by 237 glaciers with a total area of 201 km2. Thus, from the maximum of the LIA, the glaciation of the Tavan-Bogd mountains decreased by 43%, which is somewhat less than the neighboring glacial centers (Ikh-Turgen, Tsambagarav, Tsengel-Khayrkhan and Mongun-Taiga mountains). The probable cause is the predominance of larger glaciers relatively resistant to warming and higher altitudes. The effect of glacier size on their stability is supported by differences in the relative shrinkage of glaciers in different parts of the Tavan-Bogdo-Ola massif: the smallest decline occurred in the basins of the Tsagan-Gol (31.7%) and Sangadir (36.4%) rivers where the largest glaciers are located. On the contrary, on the lower periphery of the massif, where small glaciers predominate, the relative reduction was large (74-79%). On the background of the general retreat trend large valleys glaciers retreated faster in 1968-1977 and after 2010. In 1990-s the retreat was slow. After 2010 the glacial retreat was extremely fast. The retreat of glaciers in the last 50-60 years was caused by a trend towards a decrease in the amount of precipitation until the mid-1970s and a sharp warming in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Water pollution with dyes is a critical environmental issue because off the huge amount of dyes disbarred annually which cause severe damage for the ecosystem and human life. On the other hand, the core-shell based magnetic materials have showed amazing character for controlling the material synthesis with targeted structure to enhance the adsorptive-removal of pollutants. Herein, Fe3O4 core-TiO2/mesoSiO2 and Fe3O4 core-mesoSiO2/TiO2 double shell nanoparticles were prepared by first (R1) and second (R2) routes. The preparation procedure is controlled to prepare the magnetic core with further coating layers from silica and titania for the uptake of methylene blue from aqueous solutions. The reported adsorption capacities for R1-0.2, R1-0.4 and R2 samples were 46, 38 and 50 mg/g respectively at pH 6 after 80 min contact time form 50 ppm methylene blue solution. The adsorption process of methylene blue onto Fe3O4core-meso SiO2/TiO2 double shell was well fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlish isotherm which suggested the quick and multilayer adsorption mechanism. In addition, results of thermodynamic investigation indicated that the surfaces of Fe3O4 core-mesoSiO2/TiO2 and Fe3O4 core-TiO2/mesoSiO2 double shell exhibit spontaneous tendency to adsorb methylene blue from the aqueous solutions. These results will encourage the further application of Fe3O4 core-meso SiO2/TiO2 and Fe3O4 core-TiO2/meso SiO2 double shell for removal of other dyes and pollutants from wastewater.

The molecular mechanism how the infecting DNA of bacteriophage T4 is passing from the capsid through the bacterial cell wall and entering the cytoplasm is essentially unknown. After adsorption, the short tail fibers of the infecting phage extend from the baseplate and trigger the contraction of the tail sheath, leading to a puncturing of the outer membrane by the tail tip needle composed of the proteins gp5.4, gp5 and gp27. To explore the events that occur in the periplasm and at the inner membrane, we have constructed T4 phage that have a modified gp27 in their tail tip with a His-tag. Shortly after infection with these phages, the cells were chemically cross-linked, solubilised, and the cross-linked products were affinity purified on a nickel column. The co-purified proteins were identified by mass spectrometry, and we found that predominantly the inner membrane proteins DamX, SdhA and PpiD were cross-linked. The same partner proteins were identified when purified gp27 was added to Escherichia coli spheroplasts suggesting a direct protein-protein interaction.

Background: Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) is a rare autoimmune condition characterized by progressive sensorineural hearing loss with hearing fluctuations over weeks to months, presenting significant challenges in both diagnosis and treatment. Due to its rarity, treatment responses and prognosis in AIED remain poorly understood. Methods: This study reviewed medical records from Taipei Medical University Hospital documented between August 2016 and August 2021. Among 67 patients experiencing fluctuating hearing loss, 11 met the diagnostic criteria for AIED and underwent regular follow-up assessments within a 5-year timeframe. ROC curve was used to discriminate the power of these prognostic parameters. Results: In this study, several factors including younger age, milder initial hearing loss, meeting criteria for bilateral Meniere's disease (MD), having an ascending audiogram pattern, longer time interval between hearing impairment attacks in contralateral ears and responding well to steroids were associated with better prognosis. ROC curve demonstrated the diagnostic value of specific parameters such as the presence of bilateral MD (AUC 0.825, 95% CI 0.640–1.000), pretreatment HI ≤ 45 dB HL (AUC 0.808, 95% CI 0.610–1.000), response to steroids (AUC 0.800, 95% CI 0.595–1.000), and ascending audiogram (AUC 0.858, 95% CI 0.683–0.858). Conclusions: This study identified key prognostic factors for AIED, providing valuable insights for predicting AIED prognosis and facilitating personalized patient management.

Drought poses a significant environmental risk and can deeply affect the growth of grasslands. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the precise impact of varying levels of drought on grassland growth. To address this gap, we utilized several key indicators, including the Nor-malized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), the Global Or-biting Carbon Observatory-2 based Solar-induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (GOSIF), and the Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), in conjunction with drought indices (the Standardized Precip-itation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the soil moisture (SM). Our study aimed to compre-hensively assess the consistency of spatio-temporal patterns in grassland vegetation and its re-sponsiveness to different drought levels in the Inner Mongolia region from 2002 to 2020. Results indicated that NDVI, EVI, GOSIF, and GPP in grassland vegetation across Inner Mongolia exhibited significant increasing trends from 2002 to 2020. Specifically, NDVI, EVI, GOSIF, and GPP all dis-played consistent spatial patterns, with 25.83%, 21.18%, 22.65% and 48.13% of the grassland area showing significant increases, respectively. Drought events, as described by SPEI and SM, in June 2007 to September 2007 and June 2017 to July 2017, were selected to evaluated the response of grassland vegetation to drought. The drought events of 2007 and 2017 resulted in reductions in NDVI, EVI, GOSIF, and GPP relative to multi-year average (2002-2020). GOSIF exhibited a more intense response to drought, suggesting that GOSIF may reflect the inhibition of water stress on grassland photosynthesis better than NDVI and EVI during drought in 2007 and 2017. The reduc-tions in NDVI, EVI, GOSIF and GPP in grassland increased significantly across different drought-levels, with the sharpest reductions observed during extreme drought. Under the severe and extreme drought events, the most substantial reductions in NDVI, EVI, GOSIF, and GPP were observed in the temperate steppe (TS). Moreover, the effects of different drought severity levels within the same grassland type varied, with the most significant reductions in NDVI, EVI, GOSIF and GPP observed during extreme drought. Our results provide new perspectives for developing and implementing effective strategies to address grassland carbon cycling management and climate change in Inner Mongolia.

This paper is devoted to the study of reproducing kernels on 2-inner product Hilbert spaces. We focus on a new structure to produce reproducing kernel Hilbert and Banach spaces. According to multi-variable computing, this structures can be useful in electrocardiographs, machine learning and economy

Concrete production requires a significant amount of natural resources, with aggregates comprising between 55% and 80% of the total volume. However, over-exploitation of natural aggregates has led to the exploration of alternative materials for use in concrete production. In this study, crushed hazelnut shells were investigated as a partial replacement for fine aggregate, addressing the problem of natural resource depletion and offering a second use for this important agricultural waste product available in Chile. Hazelnut shells were incorporated in percentages of 2.5%, 5%, and 10% by weight of sand for water-cement ratios of 0.4 and 0.5. The compressive strengths at 7 and 28 days and bending tensile strengths at 28 days were determined, alongside physical properties such as workability, temperature, air content, fresh density, and hardened density of the concrete. Our findings show that replacing 2.5% of the fine aggregate with hazelnut shells led to higher compressive strength at 28 days, exceeding the strength of the standard specimens by 9.5%, whereas replacing 5% of the fine aggregate led to the highest bending tensile strength, exceeding the resistance of the standard specimens by 3.5%. Moreover, the 0.4 w/c ratio consistently led to better results for both compressive and bending tensile resistances, with fewer and lower reductions in mechanical resistances compared to the standard mixture. Our results suggest that concrete mixes with hazelnut shells as a replacement for fine aggregate at a percentage of up to 2.5% can be used in constructive systems with compression strengths lower than 17 MPa, and mixtures with up to 10% hazelnut shell replacement can be used in structures with tensile bending stress requirements lower than 6 MPa. Overall, the use of hazelnut shells as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in concrete production presents an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective solution for the construction industry.

The nucleon-pair shell model (NPSM) with broken symmetry basis is studied. The results demonstrate the validity of NPSM with symmetry broken basis, which leads to a significant reduction in the dimensionality of the multi-pair configuration space. We have observed that the axial-deformed basis provides a satisfactory description of the low-lying spectrum, even without the need for the projection procedure. In the case of the triaxial-deformed basis, we have investigated the variation after angular momentum projection, indicating the potential for NPSM to find exact solutions in the half-closed system.

Practical applications of CsPbX3 nanocrystals (NCs) are limited by their poor stability. The formation of heterojunction between CsPbX3 NCs and oxides is an effective means to protect perovskite from polar solvents and other external factors. Significantly improving the stability and photocatalytic properties of the core/shell perovskite is very important for its application in photoelectric and photocatalytic technology. Here, we report the synthesis of asymmetrical CsPbBr3/TiO2 core-shell heterostructure NCs at single particle level by hot injection liquid phase synthesis and sol-gel method, where each CsPbBr3 NCs is partially covered by titanium dioxide. It is shown that the type II arrangement is generated at the heterogeneous interface, which greatly facilitates the separation of electron-hole pairs and increases the carrier transport efficiency. More crucial, due to the protection of titanium dioxide shell, the product has higher long-term stability in humid air compared with bare CsPbBr3 NCs. The asymmetrical core-shell heterostructure prepared in this study not only improves the stability of CsPbX3 NCs, but also provides some ideas for optoelectronic device applications and TiO2-based photocatalysts.

Cashew nut shells (CNS) are the primary waste produced during the processing of cashew nuts; and needs constant attention to handle or valorize these wastes effectively. As a result, these CNS wastes are processed into solid briquettes citing their significant calorific content, thus making them as a promising renewable biofuel for combustion based applications. In most cases, these wastes are pre-treated either through de-oiling or carbonizing prior to compaction, thus removing the harmful hydrocarbons present in them in form of CNS liquids. Presently, this chapter focus on summarising various data related to these CNS wastes and their briquettes in terms of their availability, chemical characteristics, pre-treatment and processing technique, fuel and combustion properties as reported in various literatures. Here, availability depicts the current trend in global consumption of these snack nuts and the proportionate amount of waste shells produced; while, chemical characteristics focused on discussing their anatomy, proximate, lignocellulosic and elemental compositions. Following this, pre-treatment and processing techniques list out the various practises followed to remove CNSL, process de-oiled CNS cakes into bio-char through carbonization, and briquetting of pre-treated CNS wastes along with their compacting techniques prescribed by various researchers. Lastly, fuel and combustion properties brief out about the fuel traits of developed CNS briquettes along with their burning characteristics; and include parameters like proximate and elemental compositions, density and compressive strength, and results related to their combustion and water boiling tests. Moreover, all the reported results and data in this study were in accordance with the international testing standards; and ranged in between their permissible range.

Despite concepts of human flourishing, a term connected to empowerment that acts as an archi-tectural structure within the development and sustainability discourse, tensions remain between exponential economic growth, planetary health and community empowerment. Scholars argue that the development agenda is maldevelopment due to the unrequested interventions delivered to communities, mainly in the Global South (Shiva, 1999). A current state of disorientation grips the modern world, and despite sophisticated global frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), internal approaches are side-lined. This research article repositions empowerment and compassion at the centre of the sustainable development discourse by drawing on the Inner Development Framework, particularly goal one – Being – ‘Relationship to Self’ and goal three – Relating – ‘Caring for others and the World’ as a guiding theoretical underpinning. Accordingly, this research article presents a qualitative interpretative study that examines the lived experience of women and their journeys to empowerment. The key findings indicate an intricate relationship between wellbeing and empowerment and the realisation of inner development as a tool to re-imagine alternative futures. The Machiavellian tendency to the sustainability agenda is deeply embedded in the profiteering of the misery of affected communities.

This work focuses on an inland area of North Sardinia (Italy), which is currently subject to depopulation and economic crisis because it is not affected by the summer tourism typical of the region. Despite this, the area shows an interesting architectural and natural heritage, as of today insufficiently known and valued. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the application of the Conjoint Analysis methodology on this case study aimed at supporting processes of valorisation, diversification of the tourist offer and promotion of the through the detection of the preferences of a sample of residents and visitors on a set of 9 cards (itinerary profiles) which also promote the peculiarities of small rural centres. Thus, by valorising the material and immaterial heritage and their intrinsic characteristics, it is shown that inland areas can generate an economy by offering new types of tourism, not just the typically invasive summer and maritime tourism. The research, therefore, seeks to estimate the economic value of the area from a public point of view through the WTP measured by a questionnaire of 600 interviews between inhabitants (300) and tourists (299).

Membrane remodeling and phospholipid biosynthesis are normally tightly regulated to maintain the shape and function of cells. Indeed, different physiological mechanisms ensure a precise coordination between de novo phospholipid biosynthesis and modulation of membrane morphology. Interestingly, the overproduction of certain membrane proteins hijack these regulation networks, leading to the formation of impressive intracellular membrane structures in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The proteins triggering an abnormal accumulation of membrane structures inside the cells (or membrane proliferation) share two major common features: 1) they promote the formation of highly curved membrane domains and 2) they lead to an enrichment in anionic, cone-shaped phospholipids (cardiolipin or phosphatidic acid) in the newly formed membranes. Taking into account the available examples of membrane proliferation upon protein overproduction, together with the latest biochemical, biophysical and structural data, we explore the relationship between protein synthesis and membrane biogenesis. We propose a mechanism for the formation of these non-physiological intracellular membranes that shares similarities with natural inner membrane structures found in α-proteobacteria, mitochondria and some viruses-infected cells, pointing towards a conserved feature through evolution. We hope that the information discussed in this review will give a better grasp of the biophysical mechanisms behind physiological and induced intracellular membrane proliferation, and inspire new applications, either for academia (high-yield membrane protein production and nanovesicle production) or industry (biofuel production and vaccine preparation).

Titanium boride (TiB2) is a material classified as ultra-high temperature ceramics. The TiB2 structure is dominated by covalent bonds, which gives materials based on TiB2 very good mechanical and thermal properties, but also makes them difficult to sinter. Obtaining dense TiB2 polycrystals requires chemical or physical sintering activation. Carbon and molybdenum disilicide (MoSi2) were chosen as sintering activation additives. Three series of samples were made, the first with carbon additives: 0 to 4 wt.%; the second with 2.5, 5 and 10 wt.%. MoSi2 and the third with both additions of 2 wt.% carbon and 2.5, 5 and 10 wt.% MoSi2. MoSi2. On the basis of dilatometric sintering analysis, all additives were found to have a favourable effect on sinterability of TiB2, and it was determined that sintering of TiB2 with carbon addition can be carried at 2100°C and with MoSi2 and both additives at 1800°C. The polycrystals were sintered using the hot pressing technique. On the basis of the studies conducted in this work, it was found that addition of 1 wt.% of carbon allows to obtain single-phase TiB2 polycrystals of high density (>90%). The minimum MoSi2 addition required to obtain dense sinters with a cermet-like microstructure was 5 wt.%. High density was also achieved by materials containing both additives. Samples with higher MoSi2 content, i.e. 5 and 10% showed densities close to 100%. Mechanical properties such; as Young's modulus, hardness and fracture toughness (KIc) of the polycrystals and composites were similar for samples with densities exceeding 95%. The Vickers hardness was 23 to 27 GPa, the fracture toughness (KIC) was 4 to 6 MPa·m0.5 and the Young's modulus was 480 to 540 GPa. The resulting TiB2-based materials showed potential in high-temperature applications.

SARS-CoV-2 was empirically and computationally found to be of a specific but peculiar evolution. Shell disorder models found that the outer shell (M protein) of SARS-CoV-2 to be among the hardest in its CoV family. The hard outer shell (low M percentage of disorder (PID)) is likely to be related to the SARS-CoV-2 resistance to the antimicrobial enzymes in saliva and mucus, and be responsible for the high-level of viral shedding which has been observed clinically. Experimental studies have also shown that SARS-CoV-2 is more resilient in the environment than many other CoVs, including SARS-CoV-1. Another aspect of the shell disorder models predicts that SARS-CoV-1 is more virulent than SARS-CoV-2 because of higher inner shell disorder (N PID) that helps SARS-CoV-1 replicate faster in vital organs despite being of lesser viral loads in the saliva and mucus, unlike SARS-CoV-2. This has been reaffirmed experimentally, where higher levels (50 folds) of infectious particles were detected in the SARS-CoV-1 samples in comparison with those of SARS-CoV-2. The hard outer shell of SARS-CoV-2 has been found to be associated with burrowing animals, particularly pangolins, which are often in contact with buried feces. For these reasons, the M protein is highly conserved among close relatives of SARS-CoV-2. The phylogenetic tree using M, unlike the genome-wide one, shows that pangolin-CoVs are more closely related to SARS-CoV-2 than bat-RaTG13. Previous phylogenetic studies may have been confused by recombinations that are usually poorly handled. According to the shell disorder models based on the N PID, an attenuated COVID-19 strain is likely to have entered humans via pangolins in 2017 or before, which provides the virus enough time to adapt to humans. This could explain why the SARS-CoV-2 S protein is highly adapted to the human ACE-2. The specific but peculiar evolution has a wide range of clinical, immunological, and epidemiological implications.

This article investigates the source of booming noise emanating from the tailgates of electric vehicles, along with proposed strategies to mitigate it. This study involved the measurement of booming noises during on-road vehicle tests to pinpoint their origins. Additionally, operational deflection shapes (ODS) were extracted from the tailgate vibration signals to gain insight into its dynamic behavior. Modal tests were conducted on the tailgate to determine its dynamic characteristics and compared with driving test results to reveal the mechanism responsible for tailgate-induced booming noise. It was established that such noise is primarily due to the tailgate modes resulting from a combination of rigid body motion in the fore-aft direction and deformation in the central section of the panel. An analytical model of the tailgate was developed using commercial finite element analysis software to propose measures for reducing booming noise. Experimental findings validated the model accuracy. Structural enhancements were implemented to enhance the panel stiffness and improve the connection between the vehicle and tailgate via bushings to dampen the booming noise resulting from tailgate motion. Under random force inputs, analytical results demonstrated a 13.8% reduction in maximum deformation in the tailgate model in the improved structural configuration with increased panel stiffness.

: The paper aims to present a conceptual framework for developing territorial development strategies based on crowdsourcing technologies to enhance intangible heritage, setting this framework within the context of Italian inner areas defined by a policy framework oriented towards the territorial development of marginal areas. For this reason, the work intends to provide the necessary background information for the development of such strategies, examining the technological aspects, a precise definition of the concept of intangible heritage, the application of a socially innovative strategy for marginal territories, and a framework of strategic actions necessary to implement solutions capable of involving local communities from the bottom up and ensuring a widespread redistribution of the benefits in the development of these technologies. The paper's objective is, therefore, to bridge the gap between different debates: technological innovation, the enhancement of intangible heritage, and territorial development based on socially innovative strategies, providing a key information framework for experts and scholars who intend to approach these topics or develop projects based on these tools and objectives.

In this paper, we present and analyze a compact inner-wall grating slot microring resonator (IG-SMRR) with the footprint of less than 13 μm × 13 μm on the SOI platform for label-free sensing, which comprises a slot microring resonator (SMRR) and inner-wall grating (IG). Its detection range is significantly enhanced without the limitation of the free spectral region (FSR) owing to the combination of SMRR and IG. Structural parameters of IG and SMRR are investigated and optimized for favorable transmission properties. The simulation results shows that the IG-SMRR has an ultra-large quasi-FSR of 84.6 nm, and the concentration sensitivities of sodium chloride solutions and D-glucose solutions are up to 960.61 pm/% and 933.06 pm/%, respectively. The investigation on the combination of SMRR and IG is a valuable exploration of label-free sensing application for ultra-large detection range and ultra-high sensitivity in future.

In the current study nanocellulose was isolated from walnut shell using mechanical and chemical methods. This study highlights the particle size, morphology and these methods’ efficiency in nano structure extraction. The difference between morphology and size of the particles (of the both extracted methods) were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Walnut shell is an agro-waste material with source of lignin and cellulose. Ball mill-ing with different times, in the presence and absence of additive and acid hydrolysis were used as mechanical and chemical methods, respectively. The result showed mechanical method is unable to extract nanoparticle and just reshape the walnut shell. Milling time were also found important in morphology of fiber extracted. FE-SEM images represented that structure mean diameter of using ball mill was 1± 5 μm while hydrolysis acid method extract nano particle with mean diameter of 40± 20 nm.

Low-energy Coulomb excitation is capable of providing unique information on static electromagnetic moments of short-lived excited nuclear states, including non-yrast states. The process selectively populates low-lying collective states and is therefore ideally suited to study phenomena such as shape coexistence and development of exotic deformation (triaxial or octupole shapes). Historically, these experiments were restricted to stable isotopes. However, the advent of new facilities providing intense beams of short-lived radioactive species has opened the possibility to apply this powerful technique to a much wider range of nuclei. We discuss the observables that can be measured in a Coulomb-excitation experiment, their relation to nuclear structure parameters with an emphasis on the nuclear shape, and present some recent examples of Coulomb-excitation studies that provided outcomes relevant for the Shell Model.

A thin-shell wormhole is crafted by the cut-and-paste method of two Bardeen de-Sitter black holes using Darmois-Israel formalism. Energy conditions are considered for different values of magnetic charge while both mass and cosmological constant are fixed. The attractive and repulsive characteristics of the throat of the thin-shell wormhole are also examined through the radial acceleration. Dynamics and stability of the wormhole are studied around the static solutions of the linearized radial perturbations at the throat of the wormhole. The regions of stability are determined by checking out the condition of concavity of the potential as a function in the throat radius for different values of magnetic charges.

This study used eco-friendly materials known as Periwinkle Shell Powder (PSP) in stabilizing the engineering properties of lateritic soil. Preliminary test was performed on the un-stabilized lateritic soil for the purposes of identification and classification (natural moisture content, liquid limits, plastic limits, and plasticity index). The engineering tests were conducted on the lateritic soil stabilized with additions of (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 %) PSP and OPC respectively. The result showed that cement gave a progressive increase in the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) of the lateritic soil from 1875 kg/m3 (2 %) to 2294 kg/m3 (10 %) respectively. This represents 22 % increase in the MDD from the un-stabilized state. For PSP, the Maximum MDD was attained at 6 % (1974 kg/m3), representing 5.3 % increase in MDD of the soil from the un-stabilized state. For both stabilizing agent, the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) increases from 13.65 % to 13.83 % and from 11.72 % to 14.41 % for Cement and Periwinkle Shell Powder respectively. PSP recorded an increase of 5.6 % of CBR value compared with OPC that recorded an increase of 34 % CBR value. The study therefore concluded that Periwinkle Shell Powder (PSP) could be considered as good stabilizer for clayey or lateritic, and its uses as a stabilizer could also provide a big relief to the environmental pollution caused by its indiscriminate dumping.

The development of novel porous composite materials for organic dye degradation and removal has received increasing attention due to water contamination problem. In this paper, hydrothermal synthesized nano zeolite A have been encapsulated with porous periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) through a simple modified StÖber method an organosilane-directed growth-induced etching strategy, the obtained yolk-shell structured sample was further functionalized by the impregnation of copper, realizing the composite material with hierarchical porous and catalytic properties. The morphology, porosity and metal content of the zeolite Cu/A and Cu/A@Et-PMO were fully characterized. As compared to the parent material, the composite Cu/A@Et-PMO have an efficient adsorption and catalytic degradation performance on methylene blue (MB), the removal efficiency reached as high as 95% of 60 mg/L MB with 10min. These novel structured porous composites may have great potential for adsorption and degradation application including waste effluents.

In this study, the coating order of two monomers in the shell polymerization process of core–shell nanoparticles was altered to facilitate easy coating and optimize the properties of the coated surface to simplify the additional coating formulation process. To obtain a glass transition temperature suitable for coating, a core was synthesized by the copolymerization of an acryl monomer. A perfluoro monomer and silane monomer were additionally added to synthesize nanoparticles exhibiting both water–oil repellency and anchoring properties. In order to realize various surface properties, the nanoparticles underwent surface modification and cellulose fiber was introduced. Through the various data described in this text, the surface properties improved with the order of introduction of the two monomers.

To understand the molecular mechanism associated with growth variability in bivalves, the Solexa/Illumina technology was employed to analyze the transcriptomic profiles of extreme growth rate differences (fast- VS. slow-growing individuals) in one full-sib family of the ark shell Scapharca subcrenata. De novo assembly of S. subcrenata transcriptome yielded 276,082,016 raw reads, which were assembled into 98,502 unique transcripts by Trinity strategy. A total of 6,357 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained between fast- and slow-growing individuals, with 580 up-regulated expression and 5777 down-regulated expression. Functional annotation revealed that the largest proportion of DEGs were classified to the large or small subunit ribosomal protein, all of which showed significantly lower expression levels in fast-growing group than those in slow-growing group. GO enrichment analysis identified the maximum of DEGs to biological process, followed by molecular function and cellular component. Most of the top enriched KEGG pathways were related to energy metabolism, protein synthesis and degradation. These findings reveal the link between gene expression and contrasting phenotypes in ark shells, which support that fast-growing individuals may be resulted from decreased energy requirements for metabolism maintenance, accompanying with greater efficiency of protein synthesis and degradation in bivalves.

Pure-compression shells have been the central topic in the form-finding of shells. This paper studies tension-compression mixed type shells by utilizing a NURBS-based isogeometric form-finding approach that analyzes Airy stress functions to expand the possible plan geometry. A complete set of smooth version graphic statics tools is provided to support the analyses. The method is validated using examples with known solutions, and a further example demonstrates the possible forms of shells that the proposed method permits. Additionally, a guideline to configure a proper set of boundary conditions is presented through the lens of asymptotic lines of the stress functions.

This paper discusses the preliminary results of archaeological surveys conducted in the Juuku Region of north-central Kyrgyzstan on the south side of Lake Issyk kul. Our goal was to document ancient and contemporary agropastoral systems over a four millenia time period. During the surveys about 350 loci were identified as settlements, burial mounds, graves, single artifact finds, and artifact scatters (ceramic). The areas of Juuku Valley survey included two discrete polygons: Polygon 1, Lower Juuku at 1750 to 1950 m asl in elevation and Polygon 2, Chak Juuku or Upper Eastern Branch Juuku Valley at 2060 to 2100 m asl in elevation. Three radiometric dates and preliminary archaeobotanical studies were conducted at three exposed profile cuts. The methods included here are: (1) pedestrian surveys; (2) use of digital maps (Google Earth, Encarta); (3) placing archaeological loci within known chronological time periods; (4) AMS dating of charcoal samples collected from profile deposits; and (5) preliminary identification of plant remains found from archaeobotanical samples. The results of our research represent the first step toward inventorying and interpreting archaeological data in the Juuku Valley derived from field studies.

The geometry of Poincare disk itself is interpreted without any mapping to dierent spaces. Our approach might be one of the shortest and is intended for educational contribution.

The oscillating heat pipe (OHP) is a new member in the family of heat pipes, and it has great potential applications in energy conservation. However, the fluid flow and heat transfer in the OHP as well as the fundamental effects of inner diameter on them have not been fully understood, which are essential to the design and optimization of the OHP in real applications. Therefore, by combining the high-speed visualization method and infrared thermal imaging technique, the fluid flow and thermal performance in the OHPs with inner diameters of 1, 2 and 3 mm are presented and analyzed. The results indicate that three fluid flow motions, including small oscillation, bulk oscillation and circulation, coexist or, respectively, exist alone with the increasing heating load under different inner diameters, with three flow patterns occurring in the OHPs, viz. bubbly flow, slug flow and annular flow. These fluid flow motions are closely correlated with the heat and mass transfer performance in the OHPs, which can be reflected by the characteristics of infrared thermal images of condensers. The decrease in the inner diameter increases the frictional flow resistance and capillary instability while restricting the nucleate boiling in OHPs, which leads to a smaller proportion of bubbly flow, a larger proportion of short slug flow, a poorer thermal performance, and easier dry-out of working fluid. In addition, when compared with the 2 mm OHP, the increasing role of gravity induces the thermosyphon effect and weakens the 'bubble pumping' action, which results in a little smaller and bigger thermal resistances of 3 mm OHP under small and bulk oscillation of working fluid, respectively.

Polypyrrole (PPy)-capped caped silver nanowire (Ag NW) nanomaterials (core–shell rod-shaped Ag NW@PPy) were synthesized suing a one–port suspension polymerization technique. The thickness of PPy layer on the 50-nm-thickness/15-μm-length Ag NW was effectively controlled to 10, 40, 50, and 60 nm. Thin films cast from one-dimensional conductive Ag NW@PPy formed a three-dimensional (3-D) conductive porous network structure and provided excellent electrochemical performance. The 3-D Ag NW@PPy network can significantly reduce the internal resistance of the electrode and maintain structural stability. As a result, a high specific capacitance of 625 F/g at a scan rate of 1 mV/s was obtained from the 3-D porous Ag NW@PPy composite film. The cycling performance over a long period exceeding 10,000 cycles was also evaluated. We expect that our core–shell-structured Ag NW@PPy composites and their 3-D porous structure network films can be applied as electrochemical materials for the design and manufacture of supercapacitors and other energy storage devices.

Wide bandgap semiconductors-based photocatalysts are usually limited by their low solar energy conversion efficiency due to their limited absorption solar wavelength, surface’s fast recombination of photoelectron–hole pairs and low charge-carrier mobility. Here we report a new stepwise solution synthesis for making a new photocatalytic core/shell of titanate nanowire/reduced graphene oxide shell (or titanate/rGO) 1D-nanocomposite. The new core/shell nanocomposite maximized the specific surface area, largely reduced the charge transfer resistance and reaction energy barrier, and significantly improved the absorption of the visible light. The core/shell nanocomposites’ large on/off current ratio and rapid photo-responses boosted the photocurrent by 30.0%, the photocatalysis rate by 50.0%, and the specific surface area by 16.4%, when comparing with the pure titanate nanowire core. Our numerical simulations support the effective charge separation on the new core-shell nanostructure, which can help further advance the new photocatalysis.

We successfully fabricated Ag@Cu2O core-shell decorated on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites (ACRN) by a simple and convenient in situ substitution method. The properties of these ACRN with heterostructure layers were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopies and absorption spectroscopy. We used p-nitrophenol (4-NP) as a probe molecule to determine the chemical catalytic activity of the ACRN. Upon introduction of rGO, a high electron transfer efficiency was achieved; thus, the catalytic activity was improved significantly. Therefore, the ACRN exhibited significantly improved catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-NP and showed the high application value in the removal of toxic and harmful substances from water. In addition, the fabricated ACRN was used for the reduction of organic dyes and explosive pollutants to generate nontoxic products. Furthermore, the high charge redistribution and transfer among Ag, Cu2O and rGO in the ACRN induced the high catalytic reduction of organic pollutants, indicating the excellent potential of these materials for applications in water pollution treatment.

In this study, we investigate the magnetization behavior of coaxial nanowires fabricated through the sol-gel electrospinning method. Our analysis uncovers a significant reduction in coercivity for CoFe2O4 nanowires when BaTiO3 is used as the shell material, effectively transforming them from hard to soft magnetic. This intriguing behavior is attributed to the magnetization reversal effect at the interface between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic regions, and it is also observed in NiFe2O4 and Fe2O3 nanowires. Surprisingly, introducing a GdBa2Cu3O7 shell induces a similar effect. Additionally, we employ magnetic impedance measurements on the coaxial nanowires, unveiling their potential for magnetic field sensing applications.

Shell nacre from Pinctada species has been extensively researched for managing bone defects. However, there is a gap in the research on using shell nacre as cement with improved physico-chemical properties. To address this, the current study aimed to develop a chemical curable com-posite shell nacre cement (SNC) using shell nacre powder and an organically modified ceramic resin shell nacre containing ladder-structured siloxane methacrylate (SNLSM). Different amounts of shell nacre (24, 48, and 72 weight(wt)%) were added to the SNLSM resin matrix and the effect on the physicochemical properties of the cement was studied. The composite shell nacre cement SNC 72 containing 72 wt% shell nacre exhibited significantly higher mechanical properties (com-pressive strength >100 MPa, flexural strength > 35 MPa) and low linear polymerization shrinkage (0.4%) than other compositions. SNC 72 was radiopaque and the exotherm generated during the curing of the cement was minimal. Direct contact of cured SNC 72 with L929 cells revealed the non-cytotoxic nature of the cement. Overall, the results of the study proved that the composite SNC 72 would be a promising candidate for bone defect management.

Agricultural wastes have posed as a treat to the environment over the years and they are found in large quantities due to domestic and industrial utilization of such materials in under developed and developing countries. The inability to recycle this waste has led to researches on how to use them in carrying out productive industrial activities. The aim of this study is to use Central Composite Design (CCD) to optimize the bleaching effects by snail shell as adsorbents on crude palm oil. The predictive ability of the model was close to accurate using MINITAB 19 software with the design application for the process simulation for % FFA yield to have 75.856% for experimental and 77.587% for predicted yield with just 1.731% residual. The saponification value increased with adsorption, and it indicates that palm oil can be used for soap making.

The encapsulation of proteins into core-shell structures is a widely utilised strategy for controlling protein stability, delivery and release. Despite the recognised utility of these microstructures, however, core-shell fabrication routes are often too costly or poorly scalable to allow for industrial translation. Furthermore, many scalable routes rely upon emulsion-techniques implicating denaturing or environmentally harmful organic solvents. Herein, we investigate core-shell protein encapsulation through single-feed, aqueous spray drying: a cheap, industrially ubiquitous particle-formation technology in the absence of organic solvents. We show that an excipient’s preference for the surface of the spray dried particle is well-predicted by its hydrodynamic diameter (Dh) under relevant feed buffer conditions (pH and ionic strength) and that the predictive power of Dh is improved when measured at the spray dryer outlet temperature compared to room temperature (R2 = 0.64 vs. 0.59). Lastly, we leverage these findings to propose an adaptable design framework for fabricating core-shell protein encapsulates by single-feed aqueous spray drying.

Core-shell structured magnetic nanoparticles combine hard and a soft phases to improve energy efficiency. The mutual interaction of the two phases can lead to the exchange spring effect leading to higher magnetic energy. In this regard, synthesis of Nd2Fe14B based core-shell structured powders have proven to be elusive due to the relatively reactive nature of this phase. In this study, a process has been established for successfully coating the surface of Nd2Fe14B powders with FeCo layer using galvanic displacement method. Initially, a binary phase magnetic powder was synthesized containing Nd2Fe14B and Nd2Fe17 phase. Subsequently, the powders were coated using a Co precursor at 303 K. During coating the metastable Nd2Fe17 phase was dissolved and the Fe ions were released into the solution. Subsequently, the Fe ions deposited together with the Co ions on the surface of Nd2Fe14B powder to form a FeCo shell. The deposited layer thickness and composition was confirmed using TEM analysis.

Background Radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) is an attractive, non-invasive therapy option to manage fracture nonunions of superficial bones, with a reported success rate of approximately 75%. Using zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), we recently demonstrated that induction of biomineralization after exposure to focused extracorporeal shock waves (fESWs) is not restricted to the region of direct energy transfer into calcified tissue. This study tested the hypothesis that radial extracorporeal shock waves (rESWs) also induce biomineralization in regions not directly exposed to the shock wave energy in zebra mussels. Methods Zebra mussels were exposed on the left valve to 1000 rESWs at different air pressure (between 0 and 4 bar), followed by incubation in calcein solution for 24 hours. Biomineralization was evaluated by investigating the fluorescence signal intensity found on sections of the left and right valves prepared two weeks after exposure. Results General linear model analysis demonstrated statistically significant (p < 0.05) effects of the applied shock wave energy as well as of the side (left/exposed vs. right/unexposed) and the investigated region of the valve (at the position of exposure vs. positions at a distance to the exposure) on the mean fluorescence signal intensity values, as well as statistically significant combined energy × region and energy × side × region effects. The highest mean fluorescence signal intensity value was found next to the umbo, i.e., not at the position of direct exposure to rESWs. Conclusions As in the application of fESWs, induction of biomineralization by exposure to rESWs may not be restricted to the region of direct energy transfer into calcified tissue. Furthermore, the results of this study may contribute to better understand why the application of higher energy flux densities beyond a certain threshold does not necessarily lead to higher success rates when treating fracture nonunions with extracorporeal shock wave therapy.

Hybrid microparticles based on an iron core and amphiphilic shell have been prepared to respond simultaneously to external (magnetic and ultrasounds field) and internal (pH) stimuli for delivery of the anticancer drug doxorubicin. The microparticles have been prepared in three main steps; including surface modification of the iron core followed by conjugation with the amphiphilic chitosan and drug loading. The particles demonstrate spherical shape and dimension in the range 1-3 m with tunable surface charge by changing the pH of surrounding environment. The microparticles demonstrate good stability in simulated physiological solutions and able to allocate up to 400 g of drug per mg of bare carrier. The response to ultrasound and the changes in the shell structure when exposed to different pH allows to control the doxorubicin release. In vitro cytotoxicity tests performed on fibloblast NIH/3T3 demonstrate a reduction in the cell viability when doxorubicin was administrated by microparticles compared to the free formulation; in particular when ultrasound were applied. The bare microparticles demonstrate cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility up to 50g/mL and 60 g/mL, respectively.

Developmental stability (DS) is indicated by the ability of individuals to resist random environmental and/or genetic perturbations during their development. Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA) is the commonest mean of assessing DS in bilateral traits. FA is defined as small random deviations from an ideal morphological symmetry. To date, little attention has been paid to sexual differences in FA among tortoises. With this issue in mind, we assessed levels of carapace scutation symmetries in a sample of 45 wild adult red-footed tortoise, Chelonoidis carbonarius (13 males and 32 females) from Arauca plains, East Colombia. Procrustes ANOVA reflected statistically significative sex-related FA, with males tending to exhibit a more pronounced asymmetry. Although we cannot identify the potential sources responsible for detected developmental instability, our results suggest a high degree of stress and highlight that human intervention in Arauca are affecting wildlife. Similar studies in the future, correlated with an estimate of human impact, could provide irrefutable proof of causality between FA and environmental stressors. The results of this study can represent an estimate of the fitness status of the studied population at present.

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) has been reported to have good potential for the adsorption of metal ions. In this work, PEI was covalently bound to NiFe2O4@SiO2 nanoparticles to form the new adsorbent NiFe2O4@SiO2–PEI. The material allowed magnetic separation and was characterized via powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA). The adsorption of CrO42‒, Ni2+, and Pb2+ ions from aqueous solutions was studied at different pH, temperatures, metal ion concentration, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum adsorption capacities of 149.23, 156.68, and 161.25 mg/g were obtained for CrO42‒, Ni2+, and Pb2+, respectively under optimum conditions using 0.075 g of the adsorbent material 250 mg/L ion concentration, at pH = 6.5 and room temperature.

Shell-like, double curved and thus above-average performance structures, are usually produced monolithically on site. For industrial advancement, however, they must be divided into transportable modules which can be assembled on the construction site (design for assembly). Models are lattice shells made of steel and glass, in which predominantly flat sub-surfaces (modules) are used. Therefore, the main question is: Which modularizations are suitable for flow production with mineral building materials? In this paper designed free-form surface is going to be discretized as PQ circular mesh system, suitable modules for 3D concrete printing. Moreover, the multi-criteria optimization is done with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in order to get optimal final shape. The goal is to start from the arbitrary shape, that can be generated from two curves, with possible two-way division into modules and compare it with the resulted discretized PQ circular mesh system, realized with new algorithm. The comparison can be defined through two main criteria: geometrical and structural.

Numerous cases and a shortage of resources usually limit wild animal rescue. New technology implemented might save these severely injured wild animals from the situation of euthanasia by easing the requirement of intensive medication. Three-dimensional (3D) technologies provide precise and accurate results that improve the quality of the medical application. These 3D tools have become relatively low-cost and accessible in the past years. In the medical field of exotic animal, turtle shell defect is highly challenging because of inevitable water immersion. This report is the first attempt to apply the combination of 3D scanning, computer-aid design (CAD), and 3D printing to make a protective device that frees the wound from exposure to water or infection sources. The presenting techniques successfully extricate a wild freshwater turtle from an extensive shell defect within a short period. Integration of multiple sciences to 3D technology can provide a facile model for veterinary medical applications.

By introducing a variable transformation $\xi=\frac{1}{2}(\sin \theta+1)$, a complex-form ordinary differential equation (ODE) for the small symmetrical deformation of an elastic torus is successfully transformed into the well-known Heun's ODE, whose exact solution is obtained in terms of Heun's functions. To overcome the computational difficulties of the complex-form ODE in dealing with boundary conditions, a real-form ODE system is proposed. A general code of numerical solution of the real-form ODE is written by using Maple. Some numerical studies are carried out and verified by both finite element analysis and H. Reissner's formulation. Our investigations show that both deformation and stress response of an elastic torus are sensitive to the radius ratio, and suggest that the analysis of a torus should be done by using the bending theory of a shell.

This studies the plasmonic properties of the bimetallic quantum dot Ag@Au core-shell nanostructures embedded in the non-absorbent host medium. Local field enhancement factor and coefficient of absorption of Ag-core and Au-shell are primarily studied based on quasi-static approximation of classical electrodynamics for 6-10 nm composite radius. In this quantum dot geometry, two set of plasmonic resonances in visible spectral region are observed: the first resonance associated with inner interface of gold (Ag@Au) and the second resonance associated with outer interface of gold (Au@medium). The two plasmonic resonances are close each other and enhanced when the size of composite decreased for a fixed core size while shifted to in opposite direction and the amplitude of peak decreased when the core size is increased for a fixed composite size. For the optimized size of core/composite or shell thickness and other parameters to the desired values, such type of composites are recommended for various applications like; photocatalysis, biomedical, nano-optoelectronics.

We propose a conceptual model for the closeness parameter $\epsilon$, which characterizes exotic compact objects (ECOs). To estimate $\epsilon$, a thin spherical dust shell is considered, which gravitationally contracts from a specific position $r(t_{0})$ to near its gravitational radius $r(t_{2})=r_{s} + \epsilon$, in a finite time $t_{2}$, measured in the frame of a fiducial observer (FIDO). For an external observer, the shell’s kinematics is characterized by two clearly distinguishable phases: one of rapid contraction, where the shell is far away from the gravitational radius, $r(t_{0})\gg r_{s}$, and a second phase quasi-stationary, $r(t)\sim r_{s}$, where all of the shell’s mass is concentrated around the associated horizon, such that for a FIDO, a black hole (BH)is undistinguishable from a shell configured as a black shell (BS). \\ In the semi-classical approximation $E\ll \kappa_{0}l_{p}^{2}$ and tends to zero when the observation time of collapse $t_{2}$, measured by FIDO, tends to infinity; $\kappa_{0}$ and $l_{p}$ are surface gravity and Planck length, respectively. The quantum effects are significant when $\epsilon\ll r(t_{2})$ and $\epsilon$ tends to $\kappa_{0}l_{p}^{2}$. \\ Without knowing details on quantum gravity, parameter $\epsilon$ is calculated, which, in general, allows distinguishing the ECOs from BHs. Specifically, a BS (ECO) is undistinguishable from a BH.

By introducing a variable transformation $\xi=\frac{1}{2}(\sin \theta+1)$, the symmetrical deformation equation of elastic toroidal shells is successfully transferred into a well-known equation, namely Heun's equation of ordinary differential equation, whose exact solution is obtained in terms of Heun's functions. The computation of the problem can be carried out by symbolic software that is able to with the Heun's function, such as Maple. The Gauss curvature of the elastic toroidal shells shows that the internal portion of the toroidal shells has better bending capacity than the outer portion, which might be useful for the design of metamaterials with toroidal shells cells. Through numerical comparison study, the mechanics of elastic toroidal shells is sensitive to the radius ratio. By slightly adjustment of the ratio might get a desired high performance shell structure.

In this paper, the results of finite element analyses of a single-layer cylindrical latticed shell under severe earthquake is presented. A 3D Finite Element model using fiber beam elements were used to investigate the collapse mechanism of this type of shell. The failure criteria of structural members are simulated based on the theory of damage accumulation. Severe earthquake of peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 500 gal was applied to the shell. The stress and defeomation of the shell were studied in detail. A three-stages collapse mechanism “double-diagonal -members-failure-belt” of this type of structure was discovered. Based on the analysis results, the measures to mitigate collapse of this type of structure is recomanded.

In this work, magnetic CuFe₂O₄/Ag nanoparticles activated by porous covalent organic frameworks (COF) was fabricated to evaluate the heterogenous reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The core-shell CuFe₂O₄/Ag@COF was successfully prepared by polydopamine reduction of silver ions on CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles, followed by COF layer condensation. With integrating the intrinsic characteristics of the magnetic CuFe₂O₄/Ag core and COF layer, the obtained nanocomposite exhibited features of high specific surface area (464.21 m² g^-1), ordered mesoporous structure, strong environment stability, as well as fast magnetic response. Accordingly, the CuFe₂O₄/Ag@COF catalyst showed good affinity towards 4-NP via π-π stacking interactions and possessed enhanced catalytic activity compared with CuFe₂O₄/Ag and CuFe₂O₄@COF. The pseudo-first-order rate constant of CuFe₂O₄/Ag@COF (0.77 min^-1) is 3 and 5 times higher than CuFe₂O₄/Ag and CuFe₂O₄@COF, respectively. The characteristics of bi-catalytic CuFe₂O₄/Ag and the porous COF shell of CuFe₂O₄/Ag@COF made a contribution to improve the activity of 4-NP reduction. The present work demonstrated a facile strategy to fabricate COF activated nano-catalysts with enhanced performance in the fields of nitrophenolic wastewater treatment.

Nowadays, the chemical industry is looking for sustainable chemicals to synthesize nanocomposite bio-based polyurethane foams, PUs, with the aim to replace the conventional petrochemical precursors. Some possibilities to increase the environmental sustainability in the synthesis of nanocomposite PUs include the use of chemicals and additives derived from renewable sources (such as vegetable oils or biomass wastes) which comprise an increasing wider base raw materials. Generally, sustainable PUs exhibit chemico-physical, mechanical and functional properties which are not comparable with those of PUs produced from petrochemical precursors. In order to enhance the performances as well as the bio-based aspect, the addition in the polyurethane formulation of renewable or natural fillers can be considered. Among these, walnut shells and cellulose are very popular wood-based waste and due to their chemical composition, carbohydrate, protein and/or fatty acid, can be used as reactive fillers in the synthesis of PUs, diatomite as natural inorganic nanoporous filler can be also evaluated to improve mechanical and thermal insulation properties of rigid PUs. In this respect, sustainable nanocomposite rigid PU foams are synthesized by using a cardanol-based Mannich polyol, MDI as isocyanate source, catalysts and surfactant to regulate the polymerization and blowing reactions, H2O as sustainable blowing agent and suitable amount (5wt%) of ultramilled walnut shell, cellulose and diatomite as filler. The effect of these fillers on the chemico-physical, morphological, mechanical and functional performances on PU foams has been analyzed.

A model to predict the relative levels of respiratory and fecal-oral transmission potentials of coronaviruses (CoVs) by measuring the percentage of protein intrinsic disorder (PID) of the M (Membrane) and N (nucleoprotein) proteins in their outer and inner shells, respectively, was built before the MERS-CoV outbreak. Application of this model to the 2003 SARS-CoV indicated that this virus with M_PID = 8.6% and N_PID = 50.2% falls into group B, which consists of CoVs with intermediate levels of both fecal-oral and respiratory transmission potentials. Further validation of the model came with MERS-CoV (M_PID = 9%, N_PID = 44%) and SARS-CoV-2 (M_PID = 5.5%, N_PID = 48%) falling into the groups C and B, respectively. Group C contains CoVs with higher fecal-oral but lower respiratory transmission potentials. Unlike SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 with M_PID = 5.5% has one of the hardest outer shells among CoVs. This shell hardness is believed to be responsible for high viral loads in the mucus and saliva making it more contagious than SARS-CoV. The hard shell is able to resist the anti-microbial enzymes in body fluids. Further searches have found that high rigidity of outer shell is characteristic for the CoVs of burrowing animals, such as rabbits (M_PID = 5.6%) and pangolins (M_PID = 5-6%), which are in contact with the buried feces. A closer inspection of pangolin-CoVs from 2017-19 reveals that these animals provided a unique window of opportunity for the entry of an attenuated SARS-CoV-2 precursor into the human population in 2017 or earlier, with the subsequent slow and silent spread as a mild cold that followed by its mutations into the current more virulent form. Evidence of this lies in the similarity of shell disorder and genetic proximity of the pangolin-CoVs to SARS-CoV-2 (~90%). A 2017 pangolin-CoV strain shows evidence of higher levels of attenuation and higher fecal-oral transmission associated with lower human infectivity via having lower N_PID (44.8%). Our shell disorder analysis also revealed that lower inner shell disorder is associated with the lesser virulence in a variety of viruses.

A model that predicts levels of coronavirus (CoV) respiratory/fecal-oral transmission potentials based on the outer shell hardness has been built using neural network (artificial intelligence, AI) analysis of the percentage of disorder (PID) in the nucleocapsid, N, and membrane, M, proteins of the inner and outer viral shells, respectively. Based mainly on the PID of N, SARS-CoV-2 is categorized as having intermediate levels of both respiratory and fecal oral transmission potential. Related to this, other studies have found strong positive correlations between virulence and inner shell disorder among numerous viruses, including Nipah, Ebola, and Dengue viruses. There is some evidence that this is also true for SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, which have N PIDs of 48% and 50%, and are characterized by case-fatality rates of 7.1% and 10.9%, respectively. The link between levels of respiratory transmission and virulence lies in viral load of body fluids and organ respectively. A virus can be infectious via respiratory modes only if the viral loads in saliva and mucus exceed certain minima. Likewise, a person may die, if the viral load is too high especially in viral organs. Inner shell proteins of viruses play important roles in the replication of viruses, and structural disorder enhances these roles by providing greater efficiency in protein-protein/DNA/RNA/lipid binding. This paper outlines a novel strategy in attenuating viruses involving comparison of disorder patterns of inner shells of related viruses to identify residues and regions that could be ideal for mutation. The M protein of SARS-CoV-2 has one of the lowest M PID values (6%) in its family, and therefore this virus has one of the hardest outer shells, which makes it resistant to antimicrobial enzymes in body fluid. While this is likely responsible for its contagiousness, the risks of creating an attenuated virus with a more disordered M are discussed.

An introductory course of Arka Dhyana, also known as Intuitive Meditation (IM), consisting of five sessions, was offered to an international audience via Zoom technology. Participants were shown how to connect to their deeper self, essence or soul by bringing their I-ego-awareness from the thinking mind, often associated with the frontal part of the brain, to 19 energetic stations in the body including the heart centre. In this limited study, evaluation was both process and outcome orientated and included HeartMath (HM) Inner Balance or emWave2 electronic technology to measure mean coherence and achievement before and after each session. A highly significant increase in both coherence and achievement in six participants was found, which was also reflected in a reported increase in wellbeing related to feelings in qualitative statements indicating changes in levels of consciousness and individual transformative experiences as predicted by the Theory of the Six Main Levels of Consciousness.

Nano- and microparticles are increasingly widely used in biomedical research and applications, particularly as specific labels and targeted delivery vehicles. Silica has long been considered the best material for such vehicles, but it has some disadvantages limiting its potential, such as the proneness of silica-based carriers to spontaneous drug release. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is an emerging alternative, being easily available, cost-effective, biocompatible material with high porosity and surface reactivity, which makes it an attractive choice for targeted drug delivery. CaCO3 particles are used in this field in the form of either bare CaCO3 microbeads or core/shell microparticles representing polymer-coated CaCO3 cores. In addition, they serve as removable templates for obtaining hollow polymer microcapsules. Each of these types of particles has its specific advantages in terms of biomedical applications. CaCO3 microbeads are primarily used due to their capacity for carrying pharmaceutics, whereas core/shell systems ensure better protection of the drug-loaded core from the environment. Hollow polymer capsules are particularly attractive because they can encapsulate large amounts of pharmaceutical agents and can be so designed as to release their contents in the target site in response to specific stimuli. This review focuses first on the chemistry of the CaCO3 cores, core/shell microbeads, and polymer microcapsules. Then, systems using these structures for the delivery of therapeutic agents, including drugs, proteins, and DNA, are outlined. The results of systematic analysis of available data are presented. They show that the encapsulation of various therapeutic agents in CaCO3-based microbeads or polymer microcapsules is a promising technique of drug delivery, especially in cancer therapy, enhancing drug bioavailability and specific targeting of cancer cells while reducing side effects. To date, research in CaCO3-based microparticles and polymer microcapsules assembled on CaCO3 templates has mainly dealt with their properties in vitro, whereas their in vivo behavior still remains poorly studied. However, an enormous potential of these highly biocompatible carriers for in vivo applications is undoubted. This last issue is addressed in depth in the Conclusion and Outlook sections of the review.

In the case of solid slabs made of reinforced concrete that are usually subjected to bending, large areas of the structure are stressed well below their load-bearing capacity or remain stress-free. Contrary to this are shell structures, which can bridge large spans with little material if designed well. To improve the efficiency of ceiling slabs, we want to utilize the shell load-bearing behaviour on a smaller scale by dissolving the solid interior accordingly. In order to be able to study a wide range of such constructions virtually, a parametric multiobjective simulation environment is to be developed in an ongoing research project, basic analysis approaches of which are presented in this paper. In addition to the basic workflow and the programs used, the material models used, and their calibration are described on the basis of tests on textile reinforced concrete (TRC) samples. Initial tests on two individual TRC served to verify the model.

Cobalt-doped alumina catalysts were prepared by different methods, applying either the conventional wet impregnation (WI) and/or the advanced spray impregnation (SI), and evaluated as novel oxidation catalysts for CO and MeOH oxidation. The spray impregnation technique aims towards the synthesis of core-shell catalytic nanostructures to secure chemical/thermal stability of the active sites on the catalyst carrier. The catalysts were further promoted with low Pd content (0.5 wt.%) applying either incipient wetness impregnation (DI) or spray impregnation. The results revealed the superior performance of spray impregnated catalysts (Co/γ-Al2O3-SI) for both reactions. The deposition of Co oxide on the outer surface of the alumina particle (SEM images) and the availability of the active Co phase, resulted in the enhancement of Co/γ-Al2O3 catalysts oxidation activity. Pd incorporation increased catalysts reducibility (TPR-H2) and improved the catalysts performance for both reactions. However, Pd incorporation method affected the catalytic performance; as with the SI method the active phase of Co3O4 was probably covered from PdO and was not available for the oxidation reactions. On the contrary, the incorporation of Pd with the DI method resulted in better dispersion of PdO all over the Co/Al catalyst surface, maintaining available Co active sites and better Pd-Co interaction. MeOH desorption studies revealed the methanol oxidation mechanism; Co/Al catalysts promote partial oxidation of MeOH to formaldehyde (HCHO) and dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME), while Pd-based Co/Al catalysts enhance the complete oxidation of methanol to CO2 and H2O.

This article discusses the fabrication of pullulan/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and PVA blends as carrier polymers for drug delivery. This study utilized coaxial electrospinning to encapsulate doxorubicin (DOX), a common anticancer drug, within nanofibers, which helped mitigate the adverse effects of DOX on normal cells. The study also demonstrated that the coaxial electrospinning technique using PVA/pullulan cores was effective in inhibiting the attachment and proliferation of HeLa cells, a type of cervical cancer cell. The use of pullulan/PVA and PVA blends as carrier polymers in conjunction with coaxial electrospinning could provide a safe and effective drug delivery system for the treatment of cervical and other solid malignancies. The study concluded that nanofibers showed promising results in inhibiting the growth of HeLa cells, indicating their potential as safe and effective drug delivery systems for treating cervical cancer and other solid malignant tumors.

According to the development needs of marine seismic station networking, it is necessary to develop a marine seismometer with a networking function to realize quasi-real-time and large-scale long-term observation of undersea seismic signals. This can lay a solid foundation for marine seismic research and research on earth tectonics, activities, and processes. Based on the advantages and disadvantages of the existing observation equipment, this study proposed to develop a new type of the Autonomous Glide Marine Seismometer(AGMS) that can be applied to the global sea area, focusing on the design and study of the main structure of the carrier of the AGMS. The ultimate strength of the ellipsoidal pressure-resistant spherical shell is investigated by using the finite element analysis method. A reasonable finite element analysis model is proposed through comparing the finite element parameter results with the theoretical formulas and relevant specifications. Finally, the design process and strength checking of the pressure-resistant shell of the AGMS are established. These relevant results can also provide a reference for the design of other deep-sea pressure-resistant chambers.

Magnetic helicity plays a tremendously important role when it is different from zero on average. Most notably, it leads to the phenomenon of an inverse cascade. Here, we consider decaying magnetohydrodynamic turbulence as well as some less common examples of magnetic evolution under the Hall effect and ambipolar diffusion, as well as cases in which the magnetic field evolution is constrained by the presence of an asymmetry in the number density of chiral fermions, whose spin is systematically either aligned or anti-aligned with its momentum. In all those cases, there is a new conserved quantity: the Hosking integral. We present quantitative scaling results for the magnetic integral scale as well as the magnetic energy density and its spectrum. We also compare with cases were also a magnetic version of the Saffman integral is initially finite.

Silicon has a theoretical specific capacity of 4200 mAh g−1, which is considered to have significant potential for anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the volume change that occurs in silicon during charging and discharging affects the development of commercial applications. In this work, a yolk-shell structured Si@void@C anode material has been developed to address this problem. The silicon nanoparticle yolk material is obtained by recycling kerf-loss (KL) Si waste from the photovoltaic industry, the carbon shell is prepared via a hydrothermal process with glucose, and the sacrificial interlayer is Al2O3. The synthesized material is used to fabricate anodes that show a high reversible capacity of 836 mAh g−1 at the current density of 0.1 A g−1 after 100 cycles, with a Coulomb efficiency of 71.4%. This work demonstrates a relatively low-cost approach to turn KL Si waste into value-added materials for LIBs.

In the present paper, the comparison is conducted between three classical shell theories as applied to the linear vibrations of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs); specifically, the evaluation of the natural frequencies is conducted via Donnell, Sanders and Flügge shell theories. The actual discrete SWCNT is modelled by means of a continuous homogeneous cylindrical shell considering equivalent thickness and surface density. In order to take into account the intrinsic chirality of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a molecular based anisotropic elastic shell model is considered. Simply supported boundary conditions are imposed and complex method is applied to solve the equations of motion and to obtain the natural frequencies. Comparisons with the results of molecular dynamics simulations available in literature are performed to check the accuracy of the three different shell theories, where Flügge shell theory is found to be the most accurate. Then, a parametric analysis evaluating the effect of diameter, aspect ratio and number of waves along the longitudinal and circumferential directions on the natural frequencies of SWCNTs is performed in the framework of the three different shell theories. Assuming the results of Flügge shell theory as references, it is obtained that Donnell shell theory is not accurate for relatively low longitudinal and circumferential wavenumbers, for relatively low diameters and for relatively high aspect ratios. On the other hand, it is obtained that Sanders shell theory is very accurate for all the considered geometries and wavenumbers, and therefore it can be correctly adopted instead of the more complex Flügge shell theory for the vibration modelling of SWCNTs.

The effect of the negative effective mass emerging in the gravitating core-spring-shell system is considered. The effect appears when the entire system is exerted to the external harmonic force and the frequency of external force approaches to the critical frequency from above. The critical frequency depends on the density of the self-gravitating system only. The scaling law predicting the value of for condensed phases is derived. The generalization of the effect for the Coulomb-like forces is reported

This paper presents an algorithm for the fully automatic mesh generation for the finite element analysis of ships and offshore structures. The quality requirements on the mesh generator are imposed by the acceptance criteria of the classification societies as well as the need to avoid shear locking when using low degree shell elements. The meshing algorithm will be generating quadrilateral dominated meshes (consisting of quads and triangles) and the mesh quality requirements mandate that quadrilaterals with internal angles close to $90\degree$ are to be preferred. The geometry is described by a dictionary containing points, rods, surfaces and openings. The first part of the proposed method consist of an algorithm to automatically clean the geometry. The corrected geometry is then meshed by the frontal Delaunay mesh generator as implemented in the gmsh package. We present a heuristic method to precondition the cross field of the frontal quadrilateral mesher. Also the influence of the order in which the plates are meshed will be explored as a preconditioning step.

The data-oriented paradigm has proven to be fundamental for the technological transformation process that characterizes Industry 4.0 (I4.0) so that Big Data & Analytics is considered a technological pillar of this process. The literature reports a series of system architecture proposals that seek to implement the so-called Smart Factory, which is primarily data-driven. Many of these proposals treat data storage solutions as mere entities that support the architecture's functionalities. However, choosing which logical data model to use can significantly affect the performance of the architecture. This work identifies the advantages and disadvantages of relational (SQL) and non-relational (NoSQL) data models for I4.0, taking into account the nature of the data in this process. The characterization of data in the context of I4.0 is based on the five dimensions of Big Data and a standardized format for representing information of assets in the virtual world, the Asset Administration Shell. This work allows identifying appropriate transactional properties and logical data models according to the volume, variety, velocity, veracity, and value of the data. In this way, it is possible to describe the suitability of SQL and NoSQL databases for different scenarios within I4.0.

The upregulated expression of thyrosine kinase AXL has been reported in several hematologic and solid human tumors including gastric, breast, colorectal, prostate, and ovarian cancers. Thus, AXL can potentially serve as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for various cancers. This paper reports the first-ever use of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) of the AXL gene as a diagnostic method for ovarian cancer. We demonstrated simple instrumentation toward a point-of-care device to perform LAMP. This paper also reports the first-ever use of core-shell beads as a microreactor to perform LAMP as an attempt to promote environmentally friendly laboratory practices.

This paper presents a new analytical method for obtaining new deformations compatibility equations or, new Saint-Venant’s identities, into the relative coordinate system with projected deformations by applying the hypothesis of the lineal shell theory in general flexion state. The method proposed generalizes the compatibility conditions established by A.L. Goldenveizer for the shell theory. On the other hand, the new equations include the deformations compatibility equations by other authors: Flügge, Saint-Venant, Love-Kirchhoff, Timoshenko, Goldenveizer, and Reissner-Mindlin. The results showed an increase of knowledge in general shell theory, and provide inverse and semi-inverse solutions, whose systems solution correspond to the hyper-statics degrees of the physical model, and not to their degrees of freedom.

In recent years, the dominant cementitious materials have been industrial by products such as fly ash. This present paper describes some of the cementitious products that are attracting attention in the global research community and the properties and characteristics of these materials that affect their performance such durability, mechanically properties and reduction of carbon dioxid (CO2). The present investigation deals with the chemical synthesis of cementitious material using fly ash of eggs shell rich in calcium(Ca) and sand dune(southern of Algeria) rich in silica(SiO2).The composition is the most compressive resistant with a maximum stress of 49.71 MPa, the most flexible (E = 2.63 GPa) and the most ductile (εr = 65.42 %).The characteristic properties of the chemically synthesized cementitious materials were analyzed by the chemical composition analysis XRF, XRD and SEM analyses.

This research was conducted to manufacture thermally expandable microspheres (TEMs) for vehicles’ underbody coating and to apply them on an industrial scale. TEMs heat resistance was studied depending on the ratios of a cross-linking agent and an initiator. This research focused on the content of a cross-linking agent and how it affected the results. The TEMs’ outer shell was thickened to solve the problem of the foam expansion ratio’s reduction that occurred due to the shrinkage after the maximum expansion (Tmax) was reached. After foaming, the cross-sectional thickness and surface of the sample with thickened outer shell were observed. The TEMs with the thickened shell showed the least shrinkage, which indicated excellent shrinkage stability, even after prolonged exposure to heat.

The development of sensors for monitoring Carbon Monoxide (CO) in a large range of temperature is of crucial importance in areas as monitoring of industrial processes or personal tracking using smart objects. Devices integrating GaN/Ga₂O₃ core/shell nanowires (NWs) is a promising solution allowing combining the high sensitivity of the electronic properties to the states of GaN-core surface; and the high sensitivity to CO of Ga₂O₃-shell. Because the performances of sensors primarily depend on the material properties composing the active layer of the device, it is essential to control these properties and in first time its synthesis. In this work, we investigate the synthesis of GaN/Ga₂O₃ core-shell NWs with a special focus on the formation of the shell. The GaN NWs grown by Plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, are post-treated following thermal oxidation to form Ga₂O₃-shell surrounding the GaN-core. We establish that the Ga₂O₃-shell thickness can be modulated from 1 up to 14 nm by changing the oxidation conditions, and follows the diffuse-controlled reaction. By combining XRD-STEM and EDX analysis, we also demonstrate that the oxide shell formed by thermal oxidation is crystalline and presents the β-Ga₂O₃ crystalline phase, and is synthesized in epitaxial relationship with the GaN-core.

In this work, numerical simulations for the absorption and scattering efficiencies of spheroid core–shell nanoparticles (CSNs) were conducted and studied using the discrete-dipole approximation method. The characteristics of surface plasmon resonances (SPR) depend upon shell thickness, the compositions of the core and shell materials, and the aspect ratio of the constructed CSNs. We used different core@shell compositions, specifically Au@SiO₂, Ag@SiO₂, Au@TiO₂, Ag@TiO₂, Au@Ag, and Ag@Au, for extinction spectra analysis. We also investigated coupled resonance mode wavelengths by adjusting the composition’s layer thickness and aspect ratio. In this study, we show that the extinction efficiency of the Ag@TiO₂ core–shell nanoparticles (CSNPs) was higher than that of the others, and we examined the impact of TiO₂ shell thickness and Ag core radius on SPR peak positions. From the extinction spectra we found that the Ag@TiO₂ nanoparticle had better refractive index sensitivity and figure of merit when the aspect ratio was set to 0.3. All of the experimental results proved that the tunability of these plasmonic resonances was highly dependent on the material used, the layer thickness, and the aspect ratio of the core@shell CSNPs.

A theoretical analysis of haemoglobin (Hb) concentration detection is presented in this work with the objective of achieving more sensitive detection and monitoring low concentrations. Surface-enhanced SPR spectroscopy on silver nanoparticles was employed for recording Hb concentrations less than 10 g/L. In this paper, Fe₃O₄@Au core-shell, nanocomposite spherical nanoparticle consisting of a spherical Fe₃O₄ core covered by Au shell, was used as an active material for biomolecules detection in the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)-based biosensor in the wavelength 632.8 nm. We present the simulation of detection amplification technique through Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) spectrum in the Kretschmann configuration. The system consists of a four-layer material i.e prism/Ag/Fe₃O₄@Au+Hb/air. Dielectric function determination of the core-shell nanoparticle (Fe₃O₄@Au) and the composite (Fe₃O₄@Au+Hb) was done by applying the Effective Medium Theory approximation and the calculation of the reflectivity is carried out by varying the size of core-shell (r₀). In this simulation, the refractive index of the BK7 prism is 1.51; the refractive index of Ag thin film is 0.13455+3.98651i with the thickness of 40 nm, and the refractive index of the composite is varied depending on the size of nanoparticle core-shell. Our results show that by varying the radius of the core and the shell thickness, the dip of the reflectivity (ATR) spectrum is shifted to the larger angle of incident light and the addition of core-shell in the conventional SPR-based biosensor leads to enhancement of the SPR biosensor sensitivity, for the core-shell radius 10 nm, the sensitivity increased by 1.35% for F = 0.1, and by 4.89% for F =0.8 compared to the sensitivity of the conventional SPR-based biosensor without core-shell addition.

In this paper, we propose an imagined speech-based brain wave pattern recognition using deep learning. Multiple features were extracted concurrently from eight-channel Electroencephalography (EEG) signals. To obtain classifiable EEG data with fewer number of sensors, we placed the EEG sensors on carefully selected spots on the scalp. To decrease the dimensions and complexity of the EEG dataset and to avoid overfitting during the deep learning algorithm, we utilized the wavelet scattering transformation. A low-cost 8-channel EEG headset was used with MATLAB 2023a to acquire the EEG data. The Long-Short Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network (LSTM-RNN) was used to decode the identified EEG signals into four audio commands: Up, Down, Left, and Right. Wavelet scattering transformation was applied to extract the most stable features by passing the EEG dataset through a series of filtration processes. Filtration has been implemented for each individual command in the EEG datasets. The proposed imagined speech-based brain wave pattern recognition approach achieved a 92.50% overall classification accuracy. This accuracy is promising for designing a trustworthy imagined speech-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) future real-time systems. For better evaluation of the classification performance, other metrics were considered, and we obtained 92.74%, 92.50% and 92.62% for precision, recall, and F1-score, respectively.

Ralstonia solanacearum is the pathogen responsible for Ralstonia solanacearum, which is soil-borne, infests plant conduits to cause disease.They are not easy to control and are harmful.Therefore the development of a controlled-release agent responsive to the pathogen's soil temperature and moisture conditions could aid in its control. Corn kernel powder is used as a carrier for Tetramycin biopesticide, with various compounds tested for bonding.They were then made by extrusion moulding.Temperature and wetness responsive components, including Pentaerythritol Tetrastearate, Pentaerythritol Tetraoleate, Polyethylene Glycol Stearate, and Polyethylene Glycol Monooleate,are compounded and coated onto Tetramycin cores to form an intermediate shell layer. Finally, Ethyl cellulose(EC)and Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose(HPMC) are dissolved and sprayed onto the outermost layer to complete the pellet's shell layer.After the evaluation of texture performance test,DSC analysis,TG test,temperature and humidity response performance test, as well as pellet cross-section SEM observation, field effectiveness test, etc., the preferred formulations were screened.The results showed that the preferred Core formulation:Corn kernel powder:Tetramycin aqueous:Xanthan gum mass ratio=13.5:23:2; Intermediate Shell layer:PETS: PETO: PEG400MO mass ratio=10:30:10; and Outer Shell layer: Ethyl cellulose (EC):Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) mass ratio=5:1.Under soil conditions of high incidence of Ralstonia solanacearum, i.e., sustained warmth (30-35℃) and high humidity (30% moisture content), the formulated pills showed a release rate of 95.18% to 96.24% over a period of 35 days. Moreover, they showed a stepwise cyclic release process under alternating warm and humid-dry and cold conditions.In field tests on tobacco, a relative preventive efficacy of 54.74% was achieved 106 days post-transplanting. Soil bacterial community structure analysis revealed a significant decrease (2.28-2.84 times) in the abundance of Solanaceae Raelia under Tetramycin pellet treatment compared to the control. Additionally, fungal community structure showed highter consistency initially across various soil depths, with diversity differences between soil layers reestablished later (106 days), while the predominant categories of bacteria and fungi remained unchanged.In this study, we successfully developed a nucleoshell-type slow-controlled release pill embedded with Tetramycin. This pill effectively responded to temperature and humidity changes, resulting in high efficacy in disease prevention.This development holds significant promise for effectively improving drug utilization and easing application challenges, offering broad prospects for Ralstonia solanacearum prevention and control in agriculture.

Modular high-rise buildings frequently adopt cast-in-place concrete to ensure building integrity. To reduce the material consumption and realize mold-free casting, a 30 mm thick light concrete mold shell wall panel ( MiC wall panel) is set as part of the shear wall. But the concrete casting process is prone to cracking and rising pattern. Its force performance and damage mechanism is not clear. To this end, this paper designs three groups of MiC wall panels with different material component types. The static load test is carried out in a graded partitioned loading mode. The effects of different material components on the mechanical properties of MiC wall panels are systematically investigated and parametrically analyzed by numerical simulation. The results show that the front cracks of the wall slab are mainly distributed under the truss tendons, and the back cracks are mainly distributed in the span position of the adjacent truss tendons. They are both along the span direction of the wall slab. Increasing the strength level of concrete and using steel fiber concrete can improve the mechanical properties of MiC wall panels to different degrees. Among them, increasing the concrete strength has a significant effect on improving the load-bearing capacity of wall panels, while incorporating steel fibers can significantly improve the deformation and crack resistance of wall panels. By building more finite element models, it was verified that the steel fiber admixture has limited effect on the mechanical properties of wall panels as the concrete grade increases. This study aims to summarize the types of wall panels with the best working properties. It provides a practical basis for optimizing the production and fabrication process of MiC wall panels.

Prunus dulcis is one of the most widely cultivated species in the world. Its fruit (almond) is rich in various nutritious and bioactive compounds that exert several beneficial effects. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical profile and evaluate the biological potential in vitro of almond shell extracts. The chemical analysis of shell extracts led to the identification of 15 com-pounds by HPLC-DAD of which 11 were first detected in the almond plant. Twenty-six volatile compounds were identified by the GC-MS technique, among them; seven were firstly detected in the studied plant. For the biological activities, the extracts demonstrated moderate inhibition potential against the antioxidant, antidiabetic, and cytotoxic activities. The methanol extract at 50 µg/mL showed the highest antioxidant (45%) and antidiabetic activities (45% against alpha-glucosidase and 31% against alpha-amylase extracts), while the cyclohexane and dichloromethane at 50 µg/mL showed the highest cytotoxic activity towards Hela (32.2% with cyclohexane), and RAW 264-7 (45% with dichloromethane). Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential of almond shell extracts as a source of bioactive compounds that could be applied in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.

Calcium dihydrogen phosphate monohydrate [Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O] (a fertilizer) was successfully synthesized by the recrystallization process by using a prepared triple superphosphate (TSP) that derived from oyster shell waste as starting material. This bio-green, eco-friendly process to produce an important fertilizer can promote a sustainable society. The shell-waste-derived TSP was dissolved in distilled water and kept at 30, 50, and 80 °C. Non-soluble powder and TSP solution were obtained. The TSP solution fraction were then dried and the recrystallized products (RCP30, RCP50, and RCP80) were obtained and confirmed as Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O. Whereas the non-soluble products (NSP30, NSP50, and NSP80) were observed as calcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate (CaHPO4·2H2O). The recrystallized yields of RCP30, RCP50, and RCP80 were found to be 51.0%, 49.6%, and 46.3%, whereas the soluble percentages were 98.72%, 99.16%, and 96.63%, respectively. RCP30 shows different morphological plate sizes, while RCP50 and RCP80 present the coagulate crystal plates. X-ray diffractograms confirm the formation of both the NSP and RCP. The infrared adsorption spectra confirmed the vibrational characteristics of HPO42‒, H2PO4‒ and H2O existed in CaHPO4·2H2O and Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O. Three thermal dehydration steps of Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O (physisorbed water, polycondensation, and re-polycondensation) were observed. Ca(H2PO4)2 and CaH2P2O7 are the thermodecomposed products from the first and second steps, whereas the final product is CaP2O6.

The implementation of gold-hydrogel core-shell nanomaterials in novel light-driven technologies requires the development of well-controlled and scalable synthesis protocols with precisely tunable properties. Herein, new insights are presented concerning the importance of using the concentration of gold cores as a control parameter in the seeded precipitation polymerization process to modulate – regardless of core size – relevant fabrication parameters such as encapsulation yield, particle size and shrinkage capacity. Controlling the number of nucleation points results in the facile tuning of the encapsulation process, with yields reaching 99% of gold cores even when using different core sizes at a given particle concentration. This demonstration is extended to the encapsulation of bimodal gold core mixtures with equally precise control on the encapsulation yield, suggesting that this principle could be extended to encapsulating cores composed of other materials. These findings could have significant impact on the development of stimuli-responsive smart materials.

An effective method for coating textile fabrics with porous materials is proposed, and the removal rates of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and fine dust particles in the coated textile fabrics are evaluated. The textile fabrics made of polyester are used to effectively reduce fine dust particles through static electricity. Zeolite and coconut shell activated carbon are used as porous material to reduce SOx and NOx, respectively. The effects of the epoxy content and dilution solution types on the SOx removal rate of textile fabrics coated with zeolite are evaluated to determine the optimum coating conditions. In addition, the effects of external environmental conditions, such as washing and freeze thawing, on the SOx and NOx removal rates of the textile fabrics coated with porous materials using the optimum coating conditions are examined. The test results show that the SOx removal rate of textile fabrics coated with zeolite decreases with the increase in the epoxy content. The decrease is 2.9 times larger for textile fabrics coated using deionized water than those coated using isopropyl alcohol. After one wash, the SOx removal rate decreases dramatically. However, the decrease is reduced by 16% when the epoxy content ratio is increased by 0.5%. The effects of washing and freeze thawing on the SOx and NOx removal rates of textile fabrics coated using the deionized water diluted with the epoxy content ratio of 2% are minimal. Consequently, to maintain stable SOx and NOx removal rates under external environmental conditions such as washing and freeze thawing, 98% deionized water dilution and 2% epoxy content ratio are required for the optimum coating of textile fabrics with zeolite and coconut shell activated carbon.

Though the energy density of lithium-ion batteries continues to increase, safety issues related with the internal short-circuit and the resulting combustion of highly flammable electrolyte impede the further development of lithium-ion batteries. It has been well-accepted that a thermal stable separator is important to postpone the entire battery short-circuit and thermal-runaway. Traditional methods to improve the thermal stability of separators includes surface modification and/or developing alternate material systems for separators which may always affect the battery performance negatively. Herein, a thermostable and shrink-free separator with little compromise in battery performance is prepared by coaxial electrospinning and tested. The separator consists of core-shell fiber networks where poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) layer serves as shell and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as the core. This core-shell fiber network exhibits little or even no shrinking/melting at elevated temperature over 250 °C. Meanwhile, it shows excellent electrolyte wettability and can take large amount of liquid electrolyte three times more than that of conventional Celgard 2400 separator. In addition, the half-cell using LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 as cathode and the aforementioned electrospun core-shell fiber network as separator demonstrates superior electrochemical behavior, stably cycling for 200 cycles at 1 C with a reversible capacity of 130 mAh g-1 and little capacity decay.

We conducted the meander evolution experiments incorporating the effects of riparian vegetation and the series of upper vortex flow disturbances induced by a scour pit simultaneously. Two employed nonlegume plants with salinity and alkalinity resistance, had uniform degrees of seedling normal growth and different lengths of root networks. Our results show that riparian vegetation in general can consolidate the single-thread channel planform without branching outward under the flooding flow conditions. Transverse point bars on inner banks were instead by downstream scroll bars in overall channel for long, unless the coupling of riparian vegetation and flood scour. Shallow-rooted plant was inadequate to resist the inner-bank cutting effect brought by the upper vortex flow. Deep-rooted plant can stabilize the bank-lines and thalweg significantly, but that was susceptible to locally low vegetation coverage. Using evolutionary spectral analysis based on thalweg, we found streamwise high-frequency distribution of bed topography mainly concentrated downstream the bifurcation interface in unvegetated scenario when faced with a flood, shrank to the upper isolated turning interface in shallow-rooted scenario, and conversely stood out along the bare roots disturbed region in deep-rooted scenario. This experimental study expands a much wider understanding of vegetation effects in hydro-bio-geomorphological systems engineering.

Hearing loss in infancy leads to preventable speech, language, and cognitive developmental delay [1, 2]. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is caused by damages, problems, or issues related to the inner ear such as the cochlea with or without the auditory nerve; cranial nerve VIII, involvement. There are three anatomic areas which include the outer ear: composed of the auricle and external auditory canal and the middle ear: which includes the tympanic membrane, ossicles, and the middle ear space, the inner ear: composed of the cochlea, semi-circular canals, and internal auditory canals. The unique anatomical shape of the auricle catches the incoming sound waves to send them down the external auditory canal. Hearing risk assessment should be part of all health visits while regular hearing screening checks are done for all children from 4 to 21 years [1, 2]. Assessment of hearing loss includes history, physical examination and specific hearing assessment tests.

In this article, we prove an orthogonal decomposition theorem for real inner product gyrogroups, which unify some well-known gyrogroups in the literature: Einstein, M\"{o}bius, Proper Velocity, and Chen's gyrogroups. This leads to the study of left (right) coset partition of a real inner product gyrogroup induced from a subgyrogroup that is a finite-dimensional subspace. As a result, we obtain gyroprojectors onto the subgyrogroup and its orthogonal complement. We construct also quotient spaces and prove an associated isomorphism theorem. The left (right) cosets are characterized using gyrolines (cogyrolines) together with automorphisms of the subgyrogroup. With the algebraic structure of the decompositions, we study fiber bundles and sections inherited by the gyroprojectors. Finally, the general theory is exemplified for the aforementioned gyrogroups.

In this work, the problem is considered for eliminating a non-uniform rectilinear smearing of an image by mathematical and computer-based way, for example, a picture of several cars taken with a fixed camera and moving with different speeds. The problem is described by a set of 1-dimensional Fredholm integral equations (IEs) of the first kind of convolution type with a 1-dimensional point spread function (PSF) at uniform smearing and by a set of new 1-dimensional IEs of a general type (not convolution type) with a 2-dimensional PSF at non-uniform smearing. The problem is also described by one 2-dimensional IE of convolution type with a 2-dimensional PSF at uniform smearing and by a new 2-dimensional IE of a general type with a 4-dimensional PSF at non-uniform smearing. The problem for solving Fredholm IE of the first kind is ill-posed (unstable). Therefore, IEs of convolution type are solved by the Fourier transform (FT) method and Tikhonov's regularization (TR), and IEs of general type are solved by the quadrature/cubature and TR methods. Moreover, the magnitude of the image smear Δ is determined by the original “spectral method”, which increases the accuracy of image restoration. It is shown that the use of a set of 1-dimensional IEs is preferable to one 2-dimensional IE in the case of non-uniform smearing. In the inverse problem (image restoration), the Gibbs effect (the effect of false waves) in the image may occur. It can be edge or inner. The edge effect is well suppressed by the proposed technique “diffusing the edges". In the case of an inner effect, it is eliminated with difficulty, but the image smearing itself plays the role of diffusing and suppresses the inner Gibbs effect to a large extent. It is shown (in the presence of impulse noise in an image) that the well-known Tukey median filter can distort the image itself, and the Gonzalez adaptive filter also distorts the image (but to a lesser extent). We propose a modified adaptive filter. A software package was developed in MatLab and illustrative calculations are performed.

Comprehensively understanding the spatial ecology and habitat preferences of endangered species is essential for population restoration and conservation. We investigated the home range and movement of the endangered Amur soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus maackii) in the Ussuri River, Heilongjiang Province, Northeastern China. The study involved tracking 19 Amur soft-shell turtles from late June to mid-October, 2022, resulting in complete and partial home range size data for eight subadults and two adults, respectively. The primary analysis focused on eight subadults, and the models that best described daily movement were identified. We also explored the potential factors influencing home range size. Mean movement rate ranged from 39.18 ± 20.04 m to 72.45 ± 29.36 m and was positively correlated with the linear home range and water temperature. The most insightful home range estimate was a 95% kernel density estimate, employing likelihood cross-validation smoothing with constraints set to the river boundaries. The mean home range size was 1.02 ha and was not correlated with body size. Subadults tended to establish well-defined home ranges over time; whereas, defining home ranges for adults proved challenging. This research addresses a gap regarding the ecology of the Amur soft-shell turtle and provides a foundation for future conservation plans.

In the case of solid slabs made of reinforced concrete that are usually subjected to bending, large areas of the structure are stressed well below their load-bearing capacity. Contrary to this are shell structures, which can bridge large spans with little material if designed according to the force flow. To improve the efficiency of ceiling slabs, we want to utilize the shell load-bearing behavior on a smaller scale by resolving the solid interior accordingly. In order to be able to study a wide range of such constructions virtually, a parametric multiobjective simulation environment is being developed in an ongoing research project. The basic analysis approaches which were implemented are presented in this paper. The basic workflow, the used programs and material models and their calibration on the tests on textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) samples are described.

This paper reports modelling outcomes for improvements to building energy performance in Indonesia. Long-term climate effects due to building energy demands including carbon emissions are also considered. The global change assessment model (GCAM) was used to generate the related end-user building energy data, including socioeconomics for urban areas of Indonesia. As a comprehensive study, the total life cycle of carbon in the building sector and the concept of zero-carbon buildings, including energy efficiency, zero-emissions electricity and fuel switching options were considered. Building shell conductance (u-value) of building envelope, floor area ratio (FAR), air conditioner (AC) efficiency, electrical appliances (APLs) efficiency, rooftop photovoltaic (PV) performance and ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems were considered as parameters to mitigate carbon emissions under the operational energy category in GCAM. Carbon mitigation associated with the cement production process was considered in the raw material category. Urban population and labour productivity in Indonesia were used as base inputs with projected growth rates to 2050 determined from available literature. Low growth rate ‘LowRate’ and high growth rate ‘HighRate’ were considered as variable inputs for u-value, FAR, AC efficiency, APLs efficiency, and PV capacity factor to model emissions mitigation. The energy consumption of the GSHP was compared to the conventional reverse cycle ACs to identify the potential of the GSHP as a fuel-switching option. Only base input data were used for cement production process parameters without applying any variable inputs. GCAM base scenarios based on input data only (without modifying variable data) for the residential building sector in Indonesia were considered the benchmark for this study. Total potential carbon emissions mitigation was found to be 432 Mt CO2-e for the residential building sector in Indonesia over 2020-2050. It was found that an average of 24% carbon emissions mitigation could be achieved by 2020-30 and 76% in 2031-2050.

This study aimed to develop chitosan-based apigenin spray dried solid dispersion using 1:1,1:1.5,1:2 w/w ratios. The results of process yield and drug assay were found to be (87.5%, 94.2%, and 95.86%), (95.2 ±1.34%), (99.5 ±0.85%), and (97.6 ±2.42%), respectively, for AC1, AC2, and AC3. Flow properties indicate the free flow of powders. FTIR revealed compatibility among chitosan and apigenin, and DSC and XRD showed prepared solid dispersion was on a molecular level and available in amorphous. In contrast, SEM images reflect irregular block and near-spherical shape elongated particles in the selected AC2. The antimicrobial examination reflects that AC2 was more effective against Gram-positive, negative, and fungal strains. AC2 SDSDs has more anti-oxidant property compared to pure flavonoid (AGN). Anti-proliferative activity against A549 lung cancer cell lines showed better anti-cancer activity by AC2 SDSDs. The selected AC2 SDSD filled in a 3D shell pill and further characterized for 3D shell pill for dissolution profiles and stability studies. The product has sustained release and similar release profiles after three months of storage. The findings suggest that the AC2 SDSDs may be a promising candidate for further development as a 3D printed drug delivery system for treating multiple disease conditions using model flavonoid- apigenin.

We prepared poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-coated sulfonated polystyrene copolymer particles as efficient heat-shielding agents, which showed strong near-infrared (NIR) absorption, with high solid contents and good solution stability. The poly(styrene sulfonate -co-styrene) (P(SS-co-St)) copolymers were successfully synthesized via radical solution polymerization, and PEDOT-coated P(SS-co-St) (PEDOT:P(SS-co-St)) was synthesized via Fe⁺-catalyzed oxidative polymerization. PEDOT:P(SS-co-St) was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. The particle size and morphology of PEDOT:P(SS-co-St) were examined using transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential measurements. The maximum NIR-shielding efficiency of the film was 92.0% with 40% transmittance. The high solution stability of PEDOT:P(SS-co-St) make it an ideal candidate for heat-insulating materials that find application in semi-transparent heat-insulator-coated windows.

Food analysis demands fast methods for routine control and high throughput of samples. Chromatographic separation enables simultaneous determination of numerous compounds in complex matrices, several approaches increasing separation efficiency and speed of analysis were involved. In this work, modern types of column with monolithic rod or superficially porous particles were employed and compared for determination of eight synthetic food dyes, their chromatographic performance was evaluated. During method optimization, cyano stationary phase Chromolith Performance CN 100 × 4.6 mm and Ascentis Express ES-CN 100 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm were selected for the separation of polar colorants. The separation was performed by gradient elution of acetonitrile/methanol and 2% water solution of ammonium acetate at flow rate 2.0 ml min-1. Mobile phase composition and the gradients were optimized in order to enable efficient separation on both columns. The method using fused-core particle column provided higher separation efficiency, narrow peaks of analytes resulted in increased peak capacity and shortening of analysis time. After the validation, the method was applied for analysis of colored beers, soft drinks and candies.

Genetic sensorineural hearing loss and Meniere disease have been associated with rare variations in the coding and non-coding region of the human genome. Most of these variants are classified as likely pathogenic or variants of unknown significance and require functional validation in cellular or animal models. Given the difficulties to obtain human samples and the raising concerns about animal experimentation, human induced pluripotent stem cells emerge as cellular models to investigate the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of inner ear disorders. The generation of human sensory epithelia and neuron-like cells carrying the variants of interest may facilitate a better understanding of their role during differentiation. These cellular models will allow us to explore new strategies for restoring hearing and vestibular sensory epithelia as well as neurons. This review summarizes the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells in sensorineural hearing loss and Meniere disease and proposes some strategies for its application in clinical practice.