Few studies have examined the role of mediating mechanisms played by bricolage in the relationship between strategic flexibility and new product development, even though most of the studies view strategic flexibility as a capability to cope with environmental turbulence and promote product innovation. The bricolage approach embraces the resource-based understanding of the product development process as a concrete process of recombining resources in the process and exploring the mechanisms behind the bricolage approach. This study is the first of the kind that has examined the empirical effect of environmental turbulence on new product development through serial mediation of strategic flexibility and bricolage. Based on our results, environmental turbulence positively and significantly affects new product development through the serial mediation of strategic flexibility and bricolage. Bricolage is one of the mechanisms by which strategic flexibility may play a part in supporting product innovation. Our contribution to strategic flexibility research comes from examining the effect of strategic flexibility on bricolage and new product development from the point that environmental turbulence compels the high-tech industries to remain strategically flexible for their sustainability and growth. Besides providing new evidence on the relationship between environmental turbulence and product innovation, this research also provides new insight into the economic opportunity of new product development in transition economies such as China.

Radiomics represents the science of extraction and analysis of a multitude of quantitative features from medical imaging, unrevealing quantitative potentiality of Radiologic images. This scientific review aims to provide radiologists a comprehensive understanding of radiomics, emphasizing its principles, applications, challenges, limits, and future prospects. Limits of standardization of actual scientific production are analyzed with the possible solutions proposed by some papers reported and commented. As the continuous evolution of medical images is ongoing, radiologists must be aware of new perspective to perform a central role in patients management.

Nowadays, network simulators are very useful to model a communications system. In this technical note we will focus in the creation of a new error model in NS-3 network simulator. This note describes the main steps to create or modify an Wi-Fi error model in this network simulator. In our case, we have created a new error model to included the approach of [1] to compute PER (Packet Error Rate) for vehicular environments.

Droughts are a common occurrence in various climates and are primarily caused by a prolonged decrease in rainfall. Several factors contribute to droughts, including temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, rainfall timing, amount, and intensity during the growing season. The objective of this study is to establish a new index, named soil moisture and evapotranspiration revealed drought index (SERDI), for displaying dry and wet conditions based on combining both soil moisture and evapotranspiration (Penman-Monteith) to improve drought early warning and its severity globally. For validation of the SERDI with other indices such as LST, VHI, NDVI, and NDWI, different ways used such as R-square, RMSE, MAPE, and P-value to estimate the accuracy, variability of data, the forecast conditions, and how the significance of data. The results showed that the low RMSE and high r² were found between SERDI with LST and VHI. In contrast, the low R- square and high RMSE were between SERDI with NDVI and NDWI in most of the semi-arid areas. Furthermore, most of the semi-arid areas from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Israel experienced moderate and severe dry conditions, except some parts of these regions had normal conditions in Iran and Syria. The SERDI analysis revealed a strong correlation between (LST) and a moderate correlation with (VHI) across all study areas. However, the relationship between other indices, like (NDWI) and (NDVI), varied depending on the regions. To conclude, SERDI can be used globally for detecting drought based on soil moisture and evapotranspiration.

Background: There is a high bureaucratic and administrative burden associated with health care tasks (test requesting, visits scheduling, supporting documents provision) that has historically largely fallen on health care professionals, which is one among the factors contributing to low job satisfaction and lower productivity. Incorporating new professional roles that help to better respond to the needs of both patients and professionals can increase the quality and efficiency of service provision. Objective: To evaluate the impact of the clinical assistant’s introduction in the Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital’s pediatric oncology department, in terms of displacement of activity loads carried out by this new professional role and the consequent time freed up for physicians. Methodology: Observational and retrospective study using administrative data based on the analysis of the type of activity performed by clinical assistants and the measurement of the time freed up in favor of the physicians, based on in situ timekeeping, to approximate the potential skill mix productivity increase. Results: Since its implementation in the pediatric oncology department, clinical assistants have performed 13,553 requests (69.93% of the total), representing a total saving of 266.83 hours or 6.67 workweeks of 40 hours. They performed 74.25% of outpatient surgical requests in the oncology department, 87.5% of day hospital requests and 54.13% of total requests in the outpatient consultations area. Conclusion: The introduction of clinical assistants in the oncology department could be efficient to the extent that it displaces a good part of the bureaucratic and administrative tasks previously performed by health care professionals. This delegation allows them to work more closely to the maximum of their competences and the physicians to have more time for higher added value clinical tasks. In terms of efficiency, this role change enables to optimize the clinical process, reducing the cost by 56% compared to the conventional model.

Good transportation systems are pre-requisites to economic development. Materials used for road construction are traditionally classified based of empirically developed archaic tests, often classifying naturally available materials as unsuitable for use in the load-bearing road pavement layers. Consequently, design standards usually require the use of imported materials at considerable costs, severely restricting road network development under scenarios of limited funding. New technologies and test methods based on sound engineering criteria, incorporating basic material sciences can substantially change this scenario. Nano-silane technologies can be utilised to improve naturally available materials to meet the engineering requirements of all layers in road structures. Material test and design methods have been developed and successfully tested in South Africa to build New-age Modified Emulsion (NME) stabilised layers in roads, meeting all engineering requirements. Accelerated Pavement Tests (APT) done on actual roads, proved the concept. This work is based on a scientific approach and identification of various factors that will impact on the successful application of applicable nanotechnology solutions. This paper aims to identify these fundamental factors that are a pre-requisite for the evaluation of nanotechnology solutions to ensure that new technologies are introduced into pavement engineering designs at a low risk to any implementing.

Cancer, a globally prevalent and often deadly disease, holds promise for improved treatment through the integration of innovative medical technologies and interdisciplinary collaborations. Despite advancements, current cancer therapies lack a specific focus on addressing recurrence and targeting cancer stem cells (CSCs), known contributors to relapse. In this study, we utilized three types of cancer cells and generated three types of CSCs derived from them to conduct proteomic analysis and identified shared cell surface biomarkers as potential targets for a comprehensive treatment strategy. The selected biomarkers underwent evaluation through shRNA treatment, revealing contrasting functions in cancer and CSCs. Knocking down the identified protein showed promising results in regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness via the ERK signaling pathway. This led to a reduction in resistance to anticancer agents, ultimately enhancing the overall anticancer effects. Additionally, the biomarker's significance in clinical patient outcomes was confirmed using bioinformatics. Our study suggests a novel cancer treatment strategy that addresses existing limitations in current anticancer therapies.

Lactobacillus plantarum is a bacterium with promising applications to the food industry and agriculture and probiotic properties. So far, bacteriophages of this bacterium have been moderately addressed. We examined the diversity of five new L. plantarum phages via whole genome shotgun sequencing and in silico protein predictions. Moreover, we looked into their phylogeny and their potential genomic similarities to other complete phage genome records through extensive nucleotide and protein comparisons. These analyses revealed a high degree of similarity among the five phages, which extended to the vast majority of predicted virion-associated proteins. Based on these, we selected one of the phages as a representative and performed transmission electron microscopy and structural protein sequencing tests. Overall, the results suggested that the five phages belong to the family Myoviridae, they have a long genome of 137.973-141.344 bp, a G/C content of 36,3-36,6% that is quite distinct from their host’s, and, surprisingly, seven to 15 tRNAs. Only an average 41/174 of their predicted genes were assigned a function. The comparative analyses unraveled considerable genetic diversity for the five L. plantarum phages of this study. Hence, the new genus “Semelevirus” was proposed, which comprises exclusively the five phages. This novel lineage of Lactobacillus phages provides further insight into the genetic heterogeneity of phages infecting Lactobacillus sp.. The five new Lactobacillus phages have a potential value for the development of more robust starters through, for example, the selection of mutants insensitive to phage infections. The five phages could also form part of phage cocktails, which producers would apply in different stages of L. plantarum fermentations in order to create a range of organoleptic outputs.

Proteins having a variety of functions play many essential roles in maintaining various life activities in organisms. Various methods, by which new protein functions can be artificially produced, have progressed rapidly upon development in recombinant DNA technology and effective screening techniques. However, the obtainable scope of the new functions has been restricted in a narrow range, because only functions of presently existing proteins can be used. On the other hand, it has been considered that it would be impossible to create an entirely new protein, which does not show any meaningful homology with any other amino acid sequences of previously existing proteins. The reason is because one amino acid sequence for a protein cannot be selected out from an extraordinary large amino acid sequence diversity as ~10130. As a matter of course, it is impossible to design an amino acid sequence of a protein in advance and a gene encoding the protein cannot be also formed through random process. Nevertheless, extant organisms have generated a variety of entirely new proteins in some way to make full use of them. This means that extant organisms have equipped a mechanism with which entirely new proteins can be produced under the present core life system composed of protein, tRNA (genetic code) and gene. In this article, first I introduce the mechanism, with which entirely new proteins are created in extant organisms, and further propose a novel strategy for application of the mechanism to protein engineering through creation of entirely new proteins, which could contribute to development of various industries.

The evolution of divaricate plants in New Zealand has been the subject of long-running debate among botanists and ecologists. Hypotheses about this remarkable case of convergent evolution have focused mainly on two different types of selective pressures: the Plio-Pleistocene advent of cool, dry climates, or browsing by now-extinct moa. Here, we review the scientific literature relating to the New Zealand divaricates, and present a list of 81 taxa whose architectures fall on the divaricate habit spectrum. We recommend a series of standardised terms to facilitate clear communication about these species. We identify potentially informative areas of research yet to be explored, such as the genetics underlying the establishment and control of this habit. We also review work about similar plants overseas, proposing a list of 47 such species as a first step towards more comprehensive inventories; these may motivate further studies of the ecology, morphology and evolutionary history of these overseas plants which could help shed light on the evolution of their New Zealand counterparts. Finally, we compile published divergence dates between divaricate species and their non-divaricate relatives, which suggest that the divaricate habit is fairly recent (< 10 My) in most cases.

The human casualties from simulated nuclear detonation scenarios in New Delhi, India are analyzed, with a focus on the distribution of casualties in urban environments and the theoretical application of a nuclear-specific triage system. Model estimates of nuclear war casualties employed ESRI's ArcGIS 9.3, blast and prompt radiation were calculated using the Defense Nuclear Agency's WE program, and fallout radiation was calculated using the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA's) Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability (HPAC) V404SP4, as well as custom GIS and database software applications. ESRI ArcGISTM programs were used to calculate affected populations from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's LandScanTM 2007 Global Population Dataset for areas affected by thermal, blast and radiation data. Trauma, thermal burn, and radiation casualties were thus estimated on a geographic basis for New Delhi, India for single and multiple (six) 25 kiloton (kt) detonations and a single 1 megaton (1000kt) detonation. Major issues related to the emergency management of a nuclear incident are discussed with specific recommendations for improvement. The consequences for health management of thermal burn and radiation patients is the worst, as burn patients require enormous resources to treat, and there will be little to no familiarity with the treatment of radiation victims.

Exponential increase in mobile video delivery will continue with the demand for higher resolution, multi-view and large-scale multicast video services. Novel fifth generation (5G) 3GPP New Radio (NR) standard will bring a number of new opportunities for optimizing video delivery across both 5G core and radio access network. One of the promising approaches for video quality adaptation, throughput enhancement and erasure protection is the use of packet-level random linear network coding (RLNC). In this work, we discuss the integration of RLNC into the 5G NR standard, building upon the ideas and opportunities identified in 4G LTE. We explicitly identify and discuss in detail novel 5G NR features that provide support for RLNC-based video delivery in 5G, thus pointing out to the promising avenues for future research.

The innovation of the new psychoactive substances (NPS) market requires the rapid identification of new substances that can be a risk to public health, in order to reduce the damage due to their use. Twelve seized products suspected to contain illicit substances were analyzed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Synthetic cathinones (SCat) were found in all products, either as a single component or in mixtures. Infrared spectra of all products were consistent with the molecular structure of SCat, showing an intense absorption band at 1700–1674 cm‐1, corresponding to the carbonyl stretching, a medium/strong peak at 1605-1580 cm-1, indicating stretching vibrations in the aromatic ring (C=C) and bands with relative low intensity at frequencies near 2700–2400 cm-1, corresponding to an amine salt. It was possible to identify a total of eight cathinone derivatives by GC-MS and NMR analysis: 4’-methyl-α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (MPHP), α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP), 3-fluoromethcathinone (3-FMC), methedrone, methylone, buphedrone, N-ethylcathinone, and pentedrone. Among the adulterants found in these samples, caffeine was the most frequently detected substance, followed by ethylphenidate. These results highlight the prevalence of SCat in seized materials of the Portuguese market. Reference standards are usually required for confirmation, but when reference materials are not available, the combination of complementary techniques is fundamental for a rapid and an unequivocal identification of such substances.

Between 11 to 15 February 2019, a dust storm originating from Central Australia with persistent westerly and south westerly winds caused high particles concentration at many sites in the state of New South Wales (NSW), both inland and along the coast. The dust continued on to New Zealand and to Antarctica in the south east. This study uses observed data from air quality monitoring stations in NSW and New Zealand, MODIS 3km AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth) product from Terra/Aqua and lidar aerosol profile from CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) satellite data, and the Weather Research Forecast WRF-Chem model based on GOCART-AFWA (Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport – Air Force and Weather Agency) dust scheme and GOCART aerosol and gas-phase MOZART (Model for Ozone And Related chemical Tracers) chemistry model to study the long-range transport of aerosols for the period 11 to 15 February 2019 across eastern Australia and onto New Zealand and Antarctica. Wild fires also happened in northern NSW at the same time and their emissions are taken into account in WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. Modelling results by the WRF-Chem model show that for the Canterbury region of South Island of New Zealand, peak concentration of PM10 (and PM2.5) as measured on 14 February 2019 at 05:00 UTC at the monitoring stations of Geraldine, Ashburton, Timaru and Woolston (Christchurch), which are more than 100km from each other and at Rangiora, Kaiapoi about 2 hours later, correspond to the prediction of high PM10 due to intrusion of dust to ground level from transported dust layer above. The Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) observation data from MODIS Terra/Aqua and CALIOP lidar measurements on board CALIPSO satellite also indicate that high altitude of dust, originated from this dust storm event in Australia, was located above Antarctica. This study suggests that at present dust storms in Australia can transport dust from sources in Central Australia to the Tasman sea, New Zealand and Antarctica. This process has been going on for at least the last 170k years as indicated by dust found in ice cores from Antarctica and sediment records in the Tasman Sea.

As a manifestation of technological innovation achievements, patents reflect the frontier of technological development in the field. This paper constructs a multi-entity patent collaboration network and analyzes its evolution patterns to provide a reference for innovation organizations to grasp the general direction of innovation development and select partners. Based on the data of collaboration patents of two and three organizations in China's new energy vehicles (NEV) industry from 2008 to 2021, this paper constructs higher-order interaction collaboration innovation networks in different periods to analyze the spatial evolution of networks and patent cooperation activities. The results show that the generalized degree distribution of nodes and edges conforms to the power-law distribution. The two-dimensional simplex networks gradually form triangle groups centered on the core nodes, and the importance of key edges is beginning to emerge. Key organizations and partners, including State Grid Corporation of China, Tsinghua University, and China Electric Power Research Institute, will largely determine the direction for the future development of cooperation innovation. The study also reveals that Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, and Shanghai are in central positions in the cooperative innovation network, based on their cooperation breadth and depth measures. Additionally, key links formed by Beijing as hubs are not only the center of information exchange but also function as bridges that connect to other regions.

In order to alleviate the conflict between populations and land-resource, Tianjin has adopted multi-phase reclamation projects to formed large-scale artificial reclamation land. However, the reclamation areas are susceptible to subsidence, which demonstrate a serious threat to infrastructure and people’s lives and property. The SBAS-InSAR was used to acquired surface deformation of Tianjin Binhai New Area from January 2017 year to December 2022 year, analyzed in depth the response relationship between land subsidence and reclamation projects time as well as the land use type. The results show that the Lingang Industrial Zone was the earliest to be reclaimed, with extensive reclamation completed by 2016 year, while Nangang Industrial Zone and Hangu Port started reclamation projects in 2009 year, some areas are still currently under construction. There is a strong correlation between surface deformation and reclamation time, the severe land subsidence occurred over newly reclaimed areas. Surface deformation gradually intensifies from west to east, the maximum surface settlement in Nangang Industrial Zone, Lingang Industrial Zone from the west to the east has changed from -50 mm to -890 mm,45 mm to -580 mm, respectively, reclamation area of Hangu Port with maximum surface deformation is -250 mm. Significant differences deformation among different land use types, which reclamation projects completed in the same time. Subsidence is positively correlated with surface load, in areas with higher surface loads, the surface settlement is also severer,the average surface settlement for the heavy shipyard, 67 grain storage tanks, 27 grain storage tanks, road, and bare land are -201 mm, -166 mm, -107 mm, -64 mm, and -43 mm, respectively. This study reveals significant differences of surface deformation in the reclamation completed at different times and the load is the main driving factor of settlement difference in the reclamation land completed at the same time. Which has important guiding significance for preventing and controlling geological disasters in the reclamation area and later development planning.

The article suggests that the the Gregorian calendar is unscientific and ivestiagtes why the Vaidika Pañcāṅga is mathematically accurate. It is a qualitative study and the library method of research has been carried out to support the claims. For Indic words, the International Alphabet for Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) method is used.

This essay critically discusses the integration of queer theory into human geography while emphasizing its ties to the principles of traditional geography. The need for a separate sub-discipline called queer geography is questioned. At the same time, legitimate concerns about possible departures from the fundamental goals of geography and the risks of anachronistic interpretations in applying modern concepts to historical landscapes are acknowledged. In this discourse, we strongly advocate for values such as freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and international human rights. It is important to emphasize that it is not the intent of this essay to denigrate campaigns for feminism or equality or to disparage the scholarship that emerges from the application of queer theory. On the contrary, we recognize the emergence of gender theories out of a need to advance social justice approaches. We believe that traditional human geography, itself, is capable of comprehensively examining space, time, and the complexity of human experience and offering workable solutions within its established framework. We therefore believe that the inclusion of queer theory can be harmoniously integrated into the contours of human geography, eliminating the need for a separate sub-discipline while preserving the integrity and purpose of the discipline.

In this contribution a new configuration of a DC-DC Boost and Buck-Boost converters is proposed to track sinusoidal signals exactly, with zero tracking error. The stage is conformed by two DC-DC converters connected to the same load, this is, they are not connected in cascade. To track exactly the sinusoidal reference the control scheme is base on the indirect control algorithm and the harmonic balance method. The proposed algorithm considers a second control input with the end of cancel out the second harmonic, this second harmonic is produced by the non linearity of the model and must be cancelled since there must be a single frequency in the output. The result is such that the converters can track sinusoidal signals with exactly zero error, some numerical results are presented to corroborate the proposal.

Food security (FS) during infancy is associated with lifelong outcomes. New Zealand is a developed economy that reports poor childhood nutrition-related health statistics, particularly among minority children, yet has no measure of FS applicable to infancy. The objective was to develop a FS index for New Zealand infants and examine its association with demographic covariates and health outcomes. Within a large (n=6853) nationally representative cohort, variables describing infant food consumption, breastfeeding, and maternal food-related coping methods were collected from mothers during late infancy. A FS index was derived using confirmatory factor analysis. Associations were assessed by logistic regressions and described using odds ratios (OR) and ≥95% confidence intervals (CI). 15% of the cohort was highly FS, 43% tenuously food insecure (FIS), and 16% highly food insecure (FIS). Infants from minority ethnic groups had lower odds of being food secure, as did those born to the youngest mothers, mothers who smoked, or lived in low-income households. FIS infants had higher odds of morbidity. Interventions to improve infant FS should focus on improving dietary quality, and give particular consideration to minority infants. We identified that FIS shows wide ethnic and socioeconomic inequity, and is associated with poorer health. The most important driving factors of FIS included poor quality weaning diets, and poverty and its proxies. Any interventions to improve infant FS should focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to recommended intake levels, and give particular consideration to minority infants.

Tsygankoite, ideally Mn8Tl8Hg2(Sb21Pb2Tl)Σ24S48, is a new sulfosalt discovered at the Vorontsovskoe gold deposit, Northern Urals, Russia. It occurs as lath-like elongated crystals up to 0.2 mm embedded in calcite-dolomite-clinochlore matrix. The associating minerals also include aktashite, alabandite, arsenopyrite, barite, cinnabar, fluorapatite, orpiment, pyrite, realgar, routhierite, sphalerite, tilasite, titanite, etc. The new mineral is non-fluorescent, black, opaque with a metallic lustre and black streak. It is brittle with an uneven fracture and no obvious parting and cleavage. Its Vickers hardness (VHN10) is 144 kg/mm2 (range 131–167) and its calculated density is 5.450 g cm-3. In reflected light tsygankoite is white; between crossed polars it is dark-grey to black. It is strongly anisotropic: rotation tints vary from light-grey to dark-grey to black. Pleochroism and internal reflections are not observed. The chemical composition of tsygankoite (wt.%, electron-microprobe data) is: Mn 6.29, Fe 0.02, Cu 0.02, Ag 0.01, Hg 5.42, Tl 26.05, Pb 5.84, As 3.39, Sb 30.89, S 21.87, Se 0.01, total 99.81. The empirical formula, calculated on the basis of 90 atoms pfu, is: Mn8.06Tl8.00(Hg1.90Fe0.03Cu0.02Ag0.01)Σ1.96(Sb17.85As3.18Pb1.98Tl0.97)Σ23.98(S48.00Se0.01)Σ48.01. Tsygankoite is monoclinic, space group C2/m, a = 21.362(4) Å, b = 3.8579(10) Å, c = 27.135(4) Å, β= 106.944(14)°, V = 2139.19(17) Å3 and Z = 1. The five strongest diffraction peaks from X-ray powder pattern [listed as (d,Å(I)(hkl)] are: 3.587(100)(112), 3.353(70)(-114), 3.204(88)(405), 2.841(72)(-513) and 2.786(99)(-514). The crystal structure of tsygankoite was refined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to R = 0.0607 and consists of an alternation of two thick layer-like arrays, one based on PbS-archetype and second – on SnS-archetype. Tsygankoite has been approved by the IMA-CNMNC under the number 2017-088. It is named for Mikhail V. Tsyganko, mineral collector from Northern Urals, who collected the samples where the new mineral was discovered.

This qualitative research examines the quality assurance practices in private school institutions in Iligan City during the first semester of 2020-2021. The study involves interviews with 30 school administrators and document analysis to uncover key themes and sub-themes. The findings reveal the significance of clear policies, professional development for teachers, stakeholder engagement, assessment strategies, and technology utilization in quality assurance. The study also identifies challenges such as the need for standardized assessment procedures, limited resources for professional development, and the integration of technology. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of adaptability and flexibility in the face of changing educational landscapes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations for further research include conducting a comparative analysis between private and public school institutions, investigating the long-term impacts of the pandemic on quality assurance, and exploring innovative strategies for online and blended learning environments. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of addressing challenges and embracing new perspectives in quality assurance to improve the overall quality of education. The implications of the study emphasize the need for comprehensive quality assurance frameworks that encompass all aspects of education and the importance of ongoing evaluation and improvement. Ultimately, this qualitative research article contributes valuable insights for private school institutions and educational policymakers to enhance their quality assurance practices and provide better educational experiences for students.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is the most common type of leukemia in the Western world. Mutations in different genes, such as TP53 and ATM, and deletions in specific chromosomal regions, including 11q or 17p, have been associated with a worse prognosis for the disease. Recent research from our group has demonstrated that, contrary to the usual cancer development process through missense mutations, B-CLL is driven by the overexpression of the small GTPase RRAS2 in its wild-type form, without activating mutations. While some mouse models of this disease have been developed to date and are commonly used in B-CLL research, they come with various disadvantages, such as a long waiting period until the leukemia fully develops, the need for cell engraftment, or, in some cases, a failure to replicate the alterations found in human patients. We have recently introduced Rosa26-RRAS2fl/flxmb1-Cre as a new mouse model of B-CLL with full disease penetrance. In this work, we have validated this mouse model as a novel tool for the development of new therapies for B-CLL by testing two of the most widely applied targeted agents: ibrutinib and venetoclax. This also paves the way for the development of new targeted agents against R-RAS2 itself, an approach that has not yet been explored in clinical practice.

Urban areas have very complex spatial structures. These spatial structures are primarily composed of a complex network of built environments, which evolve rapidly as the cities expand to meet the growing population’s demand and economic development. Therefore, studying the impact of spatial structures on urban heat patterns is extremely important for sustainable urban planning and growth. We investigated the relationship between surface temperature obtained by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER, at 90 m spatial resolution) on the current EOS-Terra platform and different urban components based on the classification of high-resolution QuickBird imagery. We further investigated the relationships between surface temperature and building footprint and land use information acquired from the New York City (NYC) Department of City Planning. The ASTER image reveals fine-scale urban heat patterns in the NYC metropolitan region. The dark and medium-dark impervious surfaces, along with bright surfaces, generate higher surface temperatures. Even with highly reflective urban materials, the presence of impervious materials leads to an increased surface temperature. At the same time, trees and shadows are effective in reducing urban heat. The data aggregated to the census tract reveals high-temperature clusters in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx region of NYC. These clusters are associated with industrial and manufacturing areas and multi-family walk-up buildings as dominant land use. The census tracts with more trees and higher building height variability generate lower surface temperatures, consistent with shadow cast by high-rise buildings and trees. The results of this study can be valuable for urban heat island modeling on the effects of building heights variability and tree shadows on small-scale surface temperature patterns. It can also help identify the risk areas during extreme heat events to protect public health.

Due to the variation of the body coloration and the similarity of the related species, there are still some unresolved problems and debates in the taxonomic study of the genus Sycanus in China. We conducted the inter-specific phylogenetic analyses and the species delimitation for Sycanus in China based on DNA barcoding dataset of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene of 81 samples and partial 28S rDNA sequences of 34 samples. The result showed that all the samples were divided into twelve species by integrating the results of DNA barcoding and morphological comparison. In the present paper, the genus Sycanus in China was reviewed systematically, all species were described or re-described, keyed, illustrated and photographed, among them, Sycanus taiwanensis Zhao & Cai sp. nov., Sycanus flavicorius Li & Cai sp. nov. and Sycanus hainanensis Wang & Cai sp. nov. were described as new to science. The biological informations of Sycanus falleni Stål, 1863 and Sycanus croceus Hsiao, 1979 were briefly recorded.

There is evidence of constitutional rank in Chile, and not only a sectoral rank, to estimate that the regulation of digital media is in an initial and insufficient phase to properly protect information pluralism as political pluralism. The study aims to investigate the forms of concentration, such as the communicational flow of digital media, to determine the opportunities and information defects of these media due to regulatory deficiencies in this sector. Data collection will be carried out through a qualitative and quantitative methodology. The prospect of the imminent constituent process in Chile provides the opportunity to the evaluate the possibilities to propose changes not only at the legislative level but also at the constitutional level, which are likely to benefit freedom of expression with greater guarantees to such as the pluralism of digital media. The latter also means assessing the relevance of enshrining the right to communication in the future.

Covid-19 infections are rapidly spreading worldwide with more than 100000 death and thus understanding the molecular mechanism of tropism of human cells is an urgent need for drug design. We have described here a bioinformatics approach to predict the functional aspects of non-structural nsp16 protein of Corona virus. The covid-19 7098 AA large polyprotein was degraded into sixteen proteins and last nsp16 protein was found an RlmE type rRNA methyltransferase. Nsp16 has no similarity to bacterial RlmABCD but has 25 percent similarity to the bacterial RlmE protein which methylates the U2551 2-hydroxy group of Ribose. The nsp16 proteins of different corona viruses like covid-19, bat-coronavirus, SARS and MERS have strong homology. Mrm2 and Dim1 like yeast and mammalian rRNA methyltransferases have 26-33 percent homologies but not with 2-O-capping MTase as reported previously. Rrp8 MTases also has no similarity to nsp16. We postulated that mitochondrial rRNA methylation of bronchial cells were mediated by the nsp16 protein causing inhibition of protein synthesis due to poor assembly of aminoacyl-tRNA or mRNA and peptidyl transferase at the PTC. This is one of the new molecular mechanism of corona virus cellular tropism and different than ACE-2 mediated blockage of cellular signalling to inhibit aldesterone biosynthesis with abnormal Na⁺ ions in cells. We also designed primers based on nsp16 cDNA sequence (nt 20659-21552, accession no MT121215) specific for Covid-19 diagnosis by RT-PCR.

The genus Amphichorda has been recently re-erected as an independent linage from Beauveria, circumscribed within Cordycipitaceae. However, its phylogenetic relationships with other members of this family remain obscure. In our on-going efforts to expand the knowledge on the diversity of culturable ascomycetes from the Mediterranean Sea, we isolated several specimens of Amphichorda. Preliminary sequence analyses revealed great phylogenetic distance with accepted Amphichorda species and a close relation to Onychophora coprophila. Onychophora is a monotypic genus of enteroblastic conidiogenous cells, presumably related to Acremonium (Bionectriaceae); while Amphichorda exhibits holoblastic conidiogenesis. Here, we examine representative strains of Amphichorda species to resolve the taxonomy of the genus and the above-mentioned fungi combining morphological, ultrastructure and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses (ITS, LSU, tef1, BenA). The results revealed Amphichorda as a member of the Bionectriaceae, where its asexual morphs represent a transition between enteroblastic and holoblastic conidiogenesis for this group of fungi. We also describe and illustrate Amphichorda littoralis sp. nov., and propose the new combination Amphichorda coprophila. In addition, we stablish key phenotypic features to distinguish Amphichorda species and demonstrate the higher salt tolerance degree of A. littoralis, consistent with its marine origin. This work provides a comprehensive framework for future studies in the genus.

Predictions of mean values of statistical variables of large scale turbulent flow by the widely used basic k-ϵ model and a new fundamentally based model are verified against published results of Direct Numerical Simulations DNS of the Navier-Stokes equations. The verification concerns turbulent channel flow at shear Reynolds numbers of 950, 2000 and 104. The basic k-ϵ model is largely based on empirical formulations accompanied by calibration constants. This contrasts with the new model where descriptions of leading statistical quantities are based on the general principles of statistical turbulence at large Reynolds number. Predicted values of major output variables such as turbulent viscosity, diffusivity of passive admixture, temperature, and fluid velocities compare well with DNS in case of the new model. Significant differences are seen in case of the basic k-ϵ model.

The human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has a crucial role on blood pressure control; however, ACE2 is also the primary SARS-CoV-2 (S domain) virus receptor. Inhibiting or even reducing the expression of the native ACE2 might diminish the viral entry into the cells, but may cause a failure of ACE2 biological activity, primarily in patients with comorbidities, including diabetes mellitus or hypertension. Since the ACE2 catalytic site and the SARS-Cov-2 receptor are distinct, we designed a Crispr-Cas9 model system, predicting the respective sequences for a guide RNA (gRNA) and a single-stranded oligo dideoxy nucleotide (ssODN), to introduce point mutations into the exon 1 of the human ACE2 gene, which encodes the alpha-helix, implicated on the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 envelope S protein. Protein modeling predicted that the specific substitutions of residues Phe28, Lys31, and Tyr41 for Ala at the ACE2 alpha-helix do not significantly alter ACE2 native conformation. The analysis of the impact of these mutations on ACE2 receptor function predicted a weakening of the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 protein S. An experimental genome editing of cells based on these Crispr-Cas9 elements might reduce the SARS-CoV-2 ability to enter the epithelial cell, preserving the biological activity of ACE2 enzyme.

Lymphoma is the most prevalent type of cancer in cats, and the search for alternative treatments is of utmost importance given the significant number of animals that exhibit tumor recurrence or are unresponsive to conventional chemotherapy treatment. Oncolytic viruses possess a unique ability to target and eliminate cancer cells while simultaneously stimulating an immune response against these malignant cells. The present study aimed to explore the oncolytic potential of Newcastle Disease Virus expressing green fluorescent protein (NDV-GFP) in a feline leukemia virus (FeLV)-positive lymphoma cell line. Our research suggests that NDV-GFP has a propensity to selectively target, infiltrate, and replicate with-in feline lymphoma cells, resulting in the induction of apoptosis in these cells, as opposed to non-tumor cells. Therefore, our research provides evidence supporting the development of novel oncolytic therapies based on NDV for the treatment of feline lymphomas.

The structure of existing activated models is inherently deficient in reflecting the major role of the membrane filtration. This study developed and proposed a novel model, MASM, for the membrane activated process. The effective filtration size imposed by the membrane module, entrapping larger size particles was adopted as the basis of the proposed model. The model defined a modified COD fractionation, accounting for the captured COD fractions as additional model components and utilizing related mass balance relationships. It was implemented for testing the fate of soluble hydrolysable COD and system performance of super-fast membrane activated sludge based on real data for the characterization and process kinetics of domestic sewage and denim processing effluents. Model evaluation was carried for parallel systems with gravity settling and membrane filtration operated at a sludge age range of 0.5-2.0 d. Results reflected significantly better performance of super-fast membrane activated sludge system for both wastewaters, underlining that it was crucially important to account for the captured COD fractions to provide an accurate evaluation of system behavior and effluent quality. This should also be identified as the major shortcoming of the ASM models for evaluating and predicting system performance of activated sludge configurations with membrane separation.

The time series of daily new cases of Covid-19 infection in different zones of Italy, several European countries and New York City were analyzed in order to characterize the large fluctuations contained in them. The comparison shows that the time series share a similar evolution, although with delays of one or two weeks, with Italy that precedes the other countries. Correlation analysis indicates a strict resemblance between the time series of the first differences, which emphasize accelerations and slowdowns of the epidemic (e.g., correlation coefficient r=0.70 for Italian vs. worldwide data). According to Fourier analysis the signals have a dominant oscillatory component at a period of seven days, with minima located near the weekends. Some of the possible causes of this time modulation are discussed. In particular, it is hypothesized a delayed or missed recognition of a significant fraction of the new cases during the weekend, with possible consequences for the evolution of the epidemic.

We report new findings of live specimens of Nassarius persicus (Martens, 1874) and N. tadjallii Moolenbeek, 2007, extending their range to the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat, India. The known distribution of both species was limited: N. persicus was distributed in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Karachi, Pakistan; N. tadjallii was reported from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. We also provide comprehensive taxonomic descriptions of both species, along with additional morphological and ecological information.

Several rheumatologic diseases are primarily distinguished by their involvement of bone tissue, where it not only serves as a mere target of the condition but often plays a pivotal role in its pathogenesis. This scenario is particularly prominent in chronic inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA). Given the immunological and systemic nature of these diseases, in this review, we report an overview of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying the specific bone involvement, focusing on the complex interactions that occur between bone tissue's own cells and the molecular and cellular actors of the immune system, a recent and fascinating field of interest defined osteoimmunology. Specifically, we have comprehensively elaborated on the distinct pathogenic mechanisms of bone erosion seen in both rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis, as well as the characteristic process of aberrant bone formation observed in spondyloarthritis. Lastly, chronic inflammatory arthritis lead to systemic bone involvement, resulting in systemic bone loss and consequent osteoporosis, along with increased skeletal fragility.

Antibiotics have played a crucial role in the reduction of TB incidence globally as evidenced by the fact that before the mid-20th century, the mortality rate within five years of the onset of the disease was 50%. The use of antibiotics has eliminated TB as a devastating disease, but the challenge of resistance to anti-TB drugs, which had already been described at the time of the introduction of streptomycin, has become a major global issue in disease management. Mismanagement of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases, resulting from intermittent drug use, prescription errors and non-compliance of patients, has been identified as a critical risk factor for the development of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in TB is a multi-factorial, complex problem of microbes evolving to escape antibiotics, the gradual decline of antibiotic development, and different economic and social conditions. In this review, we summarise recent advances in our understanding of how Mycobacterium tuberculosis evolves drug resistance. We also highlight the importance of developing shorter regimens that rapidly reach bacteria in diverse host environments, eradicating all mycobacterial populations and preventing the evolution of drug resistance. Lastly, we also emphasise that the current burden of this ancient disease is driven by a combination of complex interactions between mycobacterial and host factors, and that only a holistic approach that effectively addresses all the critical issues associated with drug resistance will limit the further spread of drug-resistant strains throught the community.

Daniel Yergin’s “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations” is a remarkable and groundbreaking work that addresses the ever-changing global energy landscape and its profound geopolitical implications. In this modest book review, we aim to offer a fresh perspective by re-examining the core issues from the standpoint of political geography. The aim of this article is twofold: to enrich the existing literature on political geography and to provide valuable insights to students of geography to broaden their knowledge in this field.

Helicosporous hyphomycetes is a class of filamentous fungi that shows promising application prospects in metabolizing bioactive natural compounds. During a study of helicosporous fungi in China, six new helicosporous taxa were collected and isolated from decaying wood in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Morphological comparisons with multi-gene phylogenetic analyses revealed that these six taxa belong to Helicosporium (Tubeufiaceae, Tubeufiales), and they can be recognized as three novel species, named Helicosporium liuzhouense, H. multidentatum and H. nanningense. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the newly discovered taxa and comparisons with similar fungi are provided. In addition, a list and a key to accepted Helicosporium species are provided.

Coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), is the pest that causes the most economic damage to coffee crops. Chemical control of this insect is based on the use of insecticides that can affect the environment and nontarget organisms. Despite the fact that caffeine has shown potential as an insecticide, a caffeine-based product for field use is currently not available on the market. As a new alternative to control CBB and other coffee pests, such as Monalonion velezangeli, a caffeine-oleate was developed. The caffeine oleate formulation showed laboratory efficacy by causing mortality of more than 90% of CBB adults in preventive tests in which the insecticide was sprayed prior to insect attack on the coffee fruits. In the curative tests, in which spraying occurred after CBB infested the fruits, the formulation caused 77% mortality of the insects. Under controlled field conditions, the product kept CBB infestation below 20%, reducing the number of fruits attacked by the insect by up to 70%. In addition, no phytotoxic effects were observed in coffee plants. The insecticide was also effective against M. velezangeli causing 100% mortality. A caffeine oleate formulation that could be part of a strategy for integrated CBB management as well as other pests of coffee was developed. The components of the insecticide are food grade; the product would provide greater security to the coffee ecosystem and coffee growers.

Current acceleration in digital innovations, unexpected challenges in our social interactions, acceleration to virtualization, limitation in our physical spaces, and unpredictable changes in our Old lifestyles - as originated from the COVID-19 global pandemic 2020 - continue to provide us with a framework, rapidly updating under our eyes, of the modifications our world is undergoing by pursuing into a New “digital age”. Or, as many scholars say nowadays, into the New Normal! These are shared and deep changes that concretely stress their effects on how ideally a city should function. Forcing us to reflect on the capability to achieve shared choices and visions for the future by taking vantage from both the New digital platforms and New suddenly opened paths. In the pages of this article authors, through different but shared viewpoints, propose an answer to the topic of "Governance 3.0", addressing the attempt of a radical change of those paradigms, now consolidated, within which the spatial dimensions, in which we live and act, are shaped. Also analyzing the relationship between Technocracy and Democracy as defined by Khanna, it is argued that it is possible to realize new forecasts and acquire a more democratic and participatory (inclusive) dimension of Governance, also thanks to new digital technologies, by exploring the general unconscious "feeling" of people, through anonymous data collection and without any direct or indirect interference with it. The analysis of the "Sentiment", already developed in other fields but easily exportable within the urban discipline, can be considered as the beginning of hybrid practices where digital and analogic find a compromise to make the "Urbs" more attractive and inclusive, while the "Civitas", connected to the Internet, can contribute to the optimization of services, of the "Polis" and a new social/spatial reorganization.

The world is currently facing a serious pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which started in Wuhan, China, and was then transmitted rapidly to other countries. Countries applied different methods and procedures in an attempt to prevent or reduce and/or control the incidence of cases and manage existing ones. This paper discusses the methods and procedures applied by Kuwait to control this epidemic, and how effective they have been. The State of Kuwait followed WHO, European CDC, US CDC, and/or other countries’ institutional guidelines, and is still working on containing the disease, given the rising number of cases among Kuwaitis returning from affected areas such as the UK and USA, and migrant workers who bear the highest burden, given their cramped living conditions.

Identification of costs drivers and their influence level on building development costs play a key role in the development of construction models and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of any project. Forty-five indicators influencing building development costs in New Zealand are explored by literature review and pilot interviews. These indicators are grouped into seven categories. The determination and ranking of the cost drivers are carried out by a questionnaire survey distributed to key professionals working in New Zealand’s construction industry. Structural equation modeling (SEM) software was employed for analysis of the collected data. One of the key advantages of this powerful software is to provide the p-value according to the structure of the research model. Findings of this study indicate that the property market and construction industry factor, statutory and regulatory factor, and socio-economic factor are major factors affecting building development costs in New Zealand.

Brain-stimulation reward, also known as intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS), is a commonly used procedure for studying brain reward function and drug reward. In electrical ICSS, an electrode is surgically implanted into the medial forebrain bundle in the lateral hypothalamus or the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain. Operant lever responding leads to the delivery of electrical pulse stimulation. The alteration in the stimulation frequency-lever response curve is used to evaluate the impact of pharmacological agents on brain reward function. If a test drug induces a leftward or upward shift in the ICSS response curve, it implies a reward-enhancing or abuse-like effect. Conversely, if a drug causes a rightward or downward shift in the functional response curve, it suggests a reward-attenuating or aversive effect. A significant drawback of electrical ICSS is the lack of cellular selectivity in understanding the neural substrates underlying drug reward versus aversion. Excitingly, recent advancements in optical ICSS (oICSS) have facilitated the development of at least three cell type-specific oICSS models – dopamine-, glutamate-, and GABA-dependent oICSS. In these new models, a comparable frequency-rate response curve has been established and employed to study the substrate-specific mechanisms underlying brain reward function and a drug's rewarding versus aversive effects. In this review article, we summarize recent progress in this exciting research area. The findings in these new behavioral models have not only increased our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying drug reward and addiction but have also introduced a novel experimental approach in preclinical medication development for treating substance use disorders.

Gonorrhea is a major global public health problem with emergence of multiple drug-resistant strains with no effective vaccine. This retrospective cohort study aimed to estimate the effectiveness of the New Zealand meningococcal B vaccine against gonorrhea associated hospitalization. The cohort consisted of individuals born 1984-1999 residing in New Zealand, therefore eligible for meningococcal B vaccination during 2004-2008. Administrative datasets of demographics, customs, hospitalization, education, income tax and immunization, were linked using the national Integrated Data Infrastructure. The primary outcome was hospitalization with a primary diagnosis of gonorrhea. Cox’s proportional hazards models were applied with a Firth correction for rare outcomes to generate estimates of hazard ratios. Vaccine effectiveness estimates were calculated as 1-Hazard Ratio expressed as percent. There were 1,143,897 eligible cohort members, with 135 missing information on gender, 16,245 missing ethnicity and/or 197,502 missing deprivation hence 935,496 were included in the analysis. After adjustment for gender, ethnicity and deprivation, vaccine effectiveness (MeNZB™) against hospitalization caused by gonorrhea was estimated to be 24% (95% CI 1-42%). In conclusion, vaccination with MeNZB™ significantly reduced the rate of hospitalization from gonorrhea. This supports prior research indicating possible cross protection of this vaccine against gonorrhea acquisition and disease in the outpatient setting.

Intersectoral and intermunicipal cooperation are still underdeveloped spheres of public and economic development policies. Academic discussions are invariably focused on pro-competitive activities, the economic efficiency of which is not always sufficient. In this paper the authors attempt to identify factors leading to cooperation between local government authorities and economic entities, focusing on examples from the forest and wood-based sector in Poland. These processes are analysed in the framework of the New Institutional Economy, both in the theoretical and practical context.

A new research stream emerged in the 2000s dedicated to flexible work arrangements in public and private organizations, called “new ways of working” (NWW). This article aims to examine NWW from both a theoretical and empirical perspective, focusing on outcomes of this new concept and the debate between “mutual gains” vs. “conflicting outcomes.” Through a literature review, it examines this research field’s innovation and its rather vague theoretical foundations. Findings demonstrate that NWW definitions are diverse and somewhat imprecise, leading to fragmented research designs and findings; the research stream’s theoretical foundations should be better addressed. Findings also highlight the current lack of empirical data, which therefore does not allow any real conclusions on NWW’s effects on employees’ and organizations’ well-being and performance.

Online food delivery service (OFDS) has been widely utilized during the new normal of COVID-19 pandemic especially in a developing country such as Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing customer satisfaction & loyalty in OFDS during the new normal of COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia by utilizing an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) approach. 253 respondents voluntarily participated and answered 65 questions. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that Hedonic Motivation (HM) was found to have the highest effect on customer satisfaction, followed by Price (P), Information Quality (IQ), and Promotion (PRO). Interestingly, this study found out that usability factors such as Navigational Design (ND) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) were not significant to customer satisfaction and loyalty in OFDS during the new normal of COVID-19. This study can be the theoretical foundation that could be very beneficial for OFDS investors, IT engineers, and even academicians. Finally, this study can be applied and extended to determine factors influencing customer satisfaction and loyalty in OFDS during the new normal of COVID-19 in other countries.

To date, no scientific study has found evidence of an afterlife, and the mechanism of consciousness is two of the most challenging questions. Here, I show a hypothesis for consciousness and the probability of an afterlife through three simple thought experiments and theoretical evidence. More studies are needed to understand the mechanism precisely. I found that consciousness can be discussed based on a new theory. Here, I hypothesize that when a person or animal dies, the selection of a new nervous system's characteristic of a new life might depend on the characteristics of the final evolved yet unknown particle. Here, I suggest that the positive or adverse evolution of the said particle depends on the natural evolution of the materialistic brain's cognition, including intelligence. The fittest intellectuals, those who have a higher potential scan mind virus, may survive happier and help more for others to improve psychological well-being. Here, I suggest that when a brain dies, the two microparticles might emit at infinite speed from the dead brain and simultaneously bond with a naturally select suitable zygote or early nervous system somewhere in the universe/s, forming a new life with the impact of new nurture.

Bridging the gap between traditional education and matching the pace of education with the rest of the world, Govt. of India implemented a new education policy this year which was much awaited for a long time. The new education policy is a big step to change India's overall education scenario by changing the examination pattern. However, this new type of decision-making process seeks to ensure that it achieves great benefits covering all uncovered elements while keeping technology as a parameter, so this new policy in the previous education system is also missing some key issues that must be addressed in the next amendments. Making it an example of impact, this paper describes salient issues where new educational policies are silent or those grey areas have been only superficially touched upon.

Motivated by Kim-Kim [19] introduced the new type of degenerate poly- Bernoulli polynomials by means of the degenerate polylogarithm function. In this paper, we define the degenerate poly-Frobenius-Euler polynomials, called the new type of degenerate poly-Frobenius-Euler polynomials, by means of the degenerate polylogarithm function. Then, we derive explicit expressions and some identities of those numbers and polynomials.

The aim of this study is to describe a research protocol of a multi-country randomized controlled trial to investigate the effect of a smartphone CBT stress management program on improving depression and other health- and work-related outcomes among hospital nurses in Vietnam and Thailand during the COVID-19 epidemic as a part of the COCONATS project. The study is a two-arm, parallel randomized control trial. Hospital nurses (N = 1,500) will be recruited in Vietnam and Thailand, and those who meet the criteria will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control (treatment as usual) group. A seven-week, seven-module smartphone-based stress management program will be developed to teach CBT skills. The intervention group will participate in the program for 10 weeks. Depression as the primary outcome will be measured using the DASS21 at baseline and in 3- and 6-month follow-up surveys. A mixed model repeated measures analysis will be used to test the intervention effect in the total combined sample, on an intention-to-treat basis. This is the first study to investigate the effectiveness of a self-guided smartphone CBT program on improving depression among hospital nurses using a RCT design in South-East Asian middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Urban planning and transportation policies are vital to creating sustainable and liveable cities. Transit-orientated development (TOD) has emerged as a prominent approach, emphasising the establishment of neighbourhoods with convenient access to public transportation and promoting car-free lifestyles. TOD initiatives aim to improve public transit efficiency, reduce dependence on private vehicles, and encourage walkability and connectivity within communities. By prioritising TOD, cities can effectively address transportation challenges, alleviate congestion, mitigate carbon emissions, and improve residents' overall quality of life. This research paper investigates the connection between proximity to transit stations and local living habits. Specifically, it examines the human mobility of residents living within a 15-minute walk distance of transit stations in Auckland, New Zealand, a car-dependent city striving to transition into a sustainable TOD model. The objective is to determine whether people living near transit stations are more inclined to participate in local activities and exhibit a higher proportion of trips within a radius of 15 minutes. The results illustrate that approximately 54% of the residents show dominant local mobility patterns. However, only about 16 stations out of 34 show their local residents have prominent collective 'local' travel patterns. By understanding the connection between proximity to transit stations and local mobility patterns, urban planners and designers can make informed decisions to improve the built environment and optimise the land use mix. This research offers insights to support the creation of vibrant and people-centric urban environments, facilitating the development of sustainable and liveable cities.

This paper studies the impact of fiscal subsidies on the sustainability of China’s rural pension system. We first provides an overview of China’s rural pension system and explains the formulas used to calculate the pension payments. We then examines how fiscal subsidies, in forms of basic pension, incentive pension, and matching subsidy, affect participation rates and individual contributions. Our study shows that the rural residents’ participation rates can be improved significantly by increasing basic pension or by providing incentive pension, but not by matching subsidy. However, none of these fiscal subsidies has significant effects on the amount of individual contributions. Overall, our results imply that incentive pension is an effective mechanism in encouraging rural residents to participate in the pension programs, but current level of matching subsidies are not sufficient enough to improve participation or increase contributions. Our study suggests the needs to increase the fiscal subsides in China’s rural pension system, and can provide useful implications in designing the effective pension system for rural residents.

The effective treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), also known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), has transformed a highly lethal disease into a chronic and manageable condition. However, better methods need to be developed for eliminating the virus from reservoirs, enhancing patient access and adherence to therapy, and improving treatment in the long term to reduce adverse effects. From the perspective of drug discovery, one promising strategy is the development of anti-HIV prodrugs. This approach aims to enhance the efficacy and safety of treatment, promoting the development of more appropriate and convenient systems for patients. In this review, we discussed the use of the prodrug approach for HIV antiviral agents and emphasized nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. We comprehensively described various strategies that are used to enhance factors such as water solubility, bioavailability, pharmacokinetic parameters, permeability across biological membranes, chemical stability, drug delivery to specific sites/organs, and tolerability. These strategies might help researchers conduct better studies in this field. We also reported successful examples from the primary therapeutic classes while discussing the advantages and limitations. In this review, we highlighted the key trends in the application of the prodrug approach for treating HIV/AIDS..

Background: Demographic aging is a reality in developed countries, which poses a social challenge of great responsibility. Thus, numerous studies have been developed in an attempt to understand which factors best predict healthy aging. The aim of this study was to investigate and systematize literature on intervention programs that simultaneously include cognitive stimulation and physical activity, understand the importance of the use of new technology in these programs, and understand their impact on cognitive function in older adults, giving indications about their contribution to healthy aging. Methods: A narrative approach was used for extraction and synthesis of the data. Relevant studies were identified from electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Academic Search Complete. Results: Thirty-two articles, involving 2815 participants, were identified. All selected studies were randomized controlled studies. The studies were published between 2011 and 2020. All studies included a combination of cognitive and physical interventions. Many of the studies used technology to administer the cognitive stimulation program. Conclusions: Most of the analyzed studies use new technologies in physical and cognitive interventions, demonstrating that this new form of intervention exerts lasting and stable benefits in cognition.

The role of agricultural transport costs in core-periphery structures has habitually been ignored in New Economic Geography (NEG) models. This is due to the convention of treating the agricultural good as the numéraire, thus implying that agricultural transportation costs are assumed to be zero in these models. For more than three decades, this has been the standard setting in spatial equilibrium analysis. The paper examines the effects of agricultural transport costs on the spatial organisation of regional structures in Peru. In doing so, the Krugman’s formulation of iceberg transport costs is modified to introduce the agricultural transport costs into the dynamic of the NEG models. We use exploratory spatial flow data analysis methods and non-spatial and spatial origin-destination flow models to explore how the regional spatial structure change when real transportation data for agricultural goods is included into the iceberg transport costs formulation. We show that agricultural transport costs generate flows that are systematically associated with flows to or from nearby regions generating thus the emergence of spatial spillovers across Peruvian regions. The results of the paper support the contention that NEG models have overshadowed the role of agricultural transport costs in determining the spatial configuration of economic activities.

This study aims to test empirical research on the effect of financial resource ability, research and development (R &amp; D) on innovation orientation and competitive position. This study also examines the critical mediating role of innovation orientation and competitive position to achieving new products performance (NPP). This study used a quantitative research approach by comparing data from service industry and manufacture industry in Indonesia included in Indonesian-State-Ownership companies. The analysis unit in this study used middle managers and top managers who responsible for managing divisions within the Indonesian-State-Ownership companies. The number of respondents studied in this study was 287 sample. The purposive sampling technique was used in taking the research sample. This study indicated that financial resources abilities, research and development (R &amp; D) abilities positive effect on innovation orientation and competitive position. This study also testing the importance role of innovation orientation and a competitive position to enhancing new products performance (NPP).

In contrast to its traditional form, in which large, powerful companies were solely and exclusively responsible for supplies, manufacturing, and distribution, the supply chain has undergone substantial change over the past half-century. Today, nearly all supply chain processes are outsourced, thanks to the efforts of innovative, modern companies. The degree of risk associated with contemporary supply chains is greater than the majority of supply chain managers acknowledge, according to an accumulation of studies, analysts, and news outlets. Vulnerabilities within the supply chain remain a significant challenge for numerous organizations. Inadequate management of these risks—which include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, cyber assaults, the credit crisis, pandemic scenarios, and war—could lead to significant declines in profitability, productivity, revenue, competitive advantage, and other metrics. Concerns regarding the risk assessment of the supply chain remain unresolved. The objective of this article is to present a risk evaluation framework that can be effectively implemented in the assessment of supply chain risks. This study makes a fundamental contribution to the body of knowledge by providing supply chain managers with a practical instrument for assessing their processes, irrespective of the mathematical underpinnings or the diverse variables employed in risk assessment. A case study from an automotive EMS production is used to compare the outcomes of multiple aggregation methods; the conclusions are then validated by risk and FMEA specialists from the same factory.

The free energy principle (FEP) is a mathematical and scientific principle that describes the relationship between the physical behavior of a dynamical system and the interpretation of such behavior as carrying out inference. It blurs the boundary between the ontological mode of the system of interest and the epistemological significance it acquires through its dynamic interaction with the environment. New materialism (or neo-materialism), despite lacking a single definition, refers to a range of emerging perspectives that attempt to dismantle the long-held divisions between ontology, epistemology, and even ethics, with the aim of achieving a comprehensive transformation of naturalized thinking. In this context, new materialism provides powerful tools to reframe some of the conceptual foundations of the FEP. This paper is the first in a series that aims to systematically construct a neo-materialistic perspective for the FEP, exploring its wide-ranging implications. It serves as an introduction to the series, arguing for the justification of deploying new materialism to reframe the FEP and introducing some essential concepts to be utilized in developing a neo-materialistic account of the FEP.

A very strong earthquake of magnitude Mw8.2 struck the coastal zone of Alaska (USA), on July 29, 2021. This earthquake was felt around the Gulf of Alaska, on a wide offshore area belonging to USA and Canada. In order to identify an anomalous geomagnetic signal before the onset of this earthquake, we retrospectively analyzed the data collected on the interval June 17 - July 31, 2021, via internet (www.intermagnet.org), at the two geomagnetic observatories, College (CMO) - Alaska and Newport (NEW)-USA, by using the polarization parameter (BPOL) and the strain effect–related to geomagnetic signal identification. Thus, for the both observation sites (CMO and NEW), the daily mean distribution of the BPOL and its standard deviation (STDEV) are carried out using an FFT band-pass filtering in the ULF range (0.001-0.0083Hz). Further on, a statistical analysis based on a standardized random variable equation was applied to emphasize the following: a) the anomalous signature related to Mw8.2 earthquake on the both time series BPOL*(CMO) and BPOL*(NEW); b) the differentiation of the transient local anomalies associated with Mw8.2 earthquake from the internal and external parts of the geomagnetic field, taking the NEW observatory as reference. Finally, on the BPOL*(NEW-CMO) time series, carried out on the interval 07-31 July, 2021, a very clear anomaly of maximum, greater than 1.2 STDEV, was detected on July 22, with 7 days before the onset of Mw8.2 earthquake

Coronavirus (COVID19) appears to be an inflection point that is forcing a disruption in medical education. However, it is not clear what the responses of the institutions are to this pandemic and how the adaptation of new methods may impact medical education in the post COVID-19 era. Objective: The study aims to explore how medical schools in Egypt responded to COVID-19 pandemic regarding the teaching and learning/assessment for undergraduate students. Design: A mixed method exploratory two-phase study was conducted. A survey was prepared and disseminated to a convenient non-probability sample of the medical school faculty through various social platforms. Then, a focus group guide was conducted to explore in more depth the findings. Results: The staff level of preparedness for that unexpected shift was evaluated by 55.1% of the survey participants as optimum to high and a good leadership support was reported by 70 % of them. They reported conflicting views about the proper role of medical education units but reinforced the idea of Egyptian Knowledge Bank’s crucial role in this transition. Additionally, there is a communication problem with the students that leads to their detachment. Subsequently, 84.6 % of the participants reported that their schools used alternative teaching methods for small groups, large groups, pre-clinical and clinical clerkships. However, 64.1 % of the participants identified a clinical skills teaching challenge. Although, 68.4% reported that alternative methods were used for formative assessment but absence of alternative methods for summative assessment was declared by 76.3%. Conclusions: Individuals moved faster than bodies and relied on support existing outside the universities when catastrophe happened. However, institutes which have experience in adapting modern engaging learning methods should organize a better response for crisis. Online learning should be integrated in the curriculum with a fair percentage especially in the early years of medical study.

Work reviews the new isolated isolated cembranoid diterpene derivatives from species belonging to the family Alcyoniidae, which comprises the genera Sarcophyton, Sinularia, and Lobophytum as well as their biological properties, during 2016–2017. The compilation permitted to conclude that much more new cembranoid diterpenes were found in the soft corals of the genus Sarcophyton sp. (33 new compounds) than in those belonging to the genera Lobophytum (17) or Sinularia (8). Several methods have been used for identifying these new compounds, after extraction with organic solvents and fractionation. The fractions obtained, in some cases, were followed by TLC, and again subjected to chromatographic procedures, including semi-preparative HPLC. Beyond the chemical composition, the biological properties were also evaluated, namely anti-microbial against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumoral against several types of cancer cells. Although the biological activities detected in almost all samples, they were not outstanding ones.

Significant changes to the new National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) and the implementation of the “Double First-Class” (DFC) initiative in China are coincidentally in the national spotlight and fall within the same policy window. However, few studies have investigated the effects of the new NCEE on the quality of students in DFC universities. By leveraging the 2018-2022 college admission data from Shandong Province, these effects are examined via the interrupted time-series technique. Weighted rankings for liberal arts and science disciplines and the admission ranking coefficient are adopted to ensure comparability before and after the reform. The findings reveal that after the reform, the quality of students in both world-class universities and first-class discipline universities improved, with greater improvements seen in world-class universities. Focusing on urban differences, the quality of students in DFC universities located in second-tier cities is found to have experienced a higher increase as compared with students in the first-tier and new first-tier cities. In addition, the reform has had different impacts on the quality of students in different majors. Furthermore, when selecting postsecondary institutions, high-scoring students prioritize the quality of universities and majors over urban factors. Finally, the implications of the new NCEE in relation to a sustainable development of DFC universities for research, policy, and practice are further discussed.

This article presents a state-of-the-art literature review to understand people’s perceptions and opinions of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and the factors that influence AV adoption. A strategic literature search was conducted to select articles for this review. Most of the articles were published within the last five years and they used a household questionnaire survey to collect data. Mostly, they used statistical and econometric methods to evaluate the factors that affect people’s intentions to adopt AVs. The results show that psychological factors often appear as the most important internal factors of people’s willingness to adopt AVs. Additionally, other internal factors such as the socioeconomic profile of individuals and their household, and knowledge and familiarity with AV technologies would affect AV adoption tendencies. User attributes also indirectly affect AV adoption by influencing the psychological factors of users. We identify several critical external factors such as opportunities (e.g., safety and security, low congestion, energy use) and challenges (e.g., system failure, privacy breach, and legal issues), while another influential group includes transportation factors (e.g., travel mode, distance, and time), urban form (e.g., urban/rural, density, land use diversity), affinity to new technology, and the institutional regulatory environment. We discuss some recommendations for policy makers, auto industries, and private stakeholders to formulate policies and strategies to increase market share of AVs. Finally, we identify some limitations of previous studies and provide a blueprint for future research on AV adoption.

The diffusion of New Ways of Working (NWW) is an important trend in contemporary organi-zations. Many related empirical studies have been produced, but none have focused on differences in employees’ perceptions of the opportunity to use NWW according to organization sector (pri-vate, semi-public, public). This study, based on neoinstituionalism and HR attributions theory, investigated these differences via a survey (n=2693) of employees at private (n=358), semi-public (n=204), and public (n=2131) organizations. The results show that public employees reported less opportunity to use NWW than their private and semi-public counterparts. Furthermore, private sector employees were more likely to attribute well-being and productivity benefits to NWW than their public sector and semi-public counterparts. We also show that institutional and organiza-tional variables specific to the characteristics of organizations in the three sectors partially ex-plain the degree of perceptions with respect to the opportunity to use NWW.

By modifying the basic definition of cosmic red shift, considering ‘speed of light’ as an absolute cosmic expansion rate and adopting ‘Planck mass’ as the basic seed of the observed large scale universe, it is certainly possible to review and revise the basic picture of ‘standard cosmology’ and in near future, a perfect model of ‘white hole cosmology’ can be developed. In this context we have developed five assumptions. First three assumptions are based on ‘time reversed’ black holes and seem to be well connected with General theory of relativity as well as Quantum mechanics. 4^th and 5^th assumptions are helpful in understanding current galactic dark matter and flat rotation speeds. It may be noted that, considering our first three assumptions and considering the Planck Legacy 2018 data’s enhanced lensing amplitude in cosmic microwave background power spectra - conceptually, a closed universe having a positive curvature seems to be a best fit for the observed universe. With reference to our recent publication [26], for clarity on the subject, in this short communication, we make an attempt to review and explain our proposed assumptions at fundamental level. Our aim is to see that, professional and non-professional cosmologists must understand the basics of workable quantum cosmology.

There is less attention to use an environmental perspective in economic valuation and individuals' willingness to pay for recreational sites. Therefore, the aim of this study is to use contingent valuation methods to estimate the recreational value and willingness to pay of visitors to the protected area of Helen forest, considering the scale of the new environmental paradigm (NEP). To achieve this, the sample size for survey was determined using the Cochran method, and then economic valuation and environmental perspective questions were designed and completed through the completion of a dual-dimensional questionnaire and NEP scale. To determine the factors influencing individuals' willingness to pay, the logistic regression model was employed. In this study, two modeling approaches were used. The first utilized a base model containing socio-economic variables, while the second model integrated a NEP into the base, and subsequent estimations were conducted. The results indicated that 83.04% of visitors are willing to pay an amount for the recreational use of the study area. The estimated model results demonstrated that variables such as the proposed amount, frequency of visits, environmental statement, age, gender, education, individual monthly income, residency, and the NEP are among the most influential factors affecting the likelihood of accepting the proposed amount by tourists. The strong and positive correlation between the NEP and willingness to pay indicates that individuals with a favorable environmental perspective tend to exhibit a higher willingness to pay. In this study, the average willingness to pay per household per visit was 199,793 Rials, and the annual recreational value for the entire Helen forest area was 23746832564 Rials. Furthermore, the survey results regarding visitors' perspective on the NEP revealed that the average NEP score for visitors to Helen forest was 36.57, with the statement 'plants and animals have similar rights to humans' receiving the highest average score of 28.4. The result of this study shows the importance of environmental perspective for sustainable management of a recreational site to balance economic development with environmental conservation and social well-being.

In the new period, the state has made every effort to promote the new urbanization of public sports service. Entropy method, coupled coordination model, cold hot spot analysis is used to explore the dynamic relationship between public sports services and the development of new urbanization in China from 2008 to 2017. The results show that: (1) The development of the internal subsystem of public sports service is not balanced, the sports financial investment system grows rapidly, but the development of professional sports talent team is slow. (2) The imbalance of regional development cannot be ignored, and the public sports service level shows a decreasing gradient from east to west. (3) The regional development features are different. The eastern region is dominated by the coordinated development of sports public service and urbanization, while the central region is mainly in the type of public sports service lag, while the western region has multiple complex characteristics of low-level coordination and public sports service lag. Therefore, it is proposed that the construction of modern public sports service system should be investigated in the context of the development of new urbanization. It should be promoted from the following aspects: promoting the extension of public sports service to rural areas, engendering the "citizen's right" of sports health to the migrant population, conforming to the trend of mass sports intelligence, developing green sports and revitalizing idle sports assets in cities.

The virtual airport hub business model is an innovative solution supported by digital technologies, the implementation of which in continental air transport may lead to a reduction in energy consumption and to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The prerequisites for the implementation of the described solution are: striving to implement the GHG emission reduction strategy laid out in the Paris Agreement (2015) and the European Green Deal (2019) as well as the EU digitalization strategy (2020). The use of predictive analitics to identify the mobility needs of population and operational capabilities of the sector, gives an opportunity to plan travel flows and to create an appropriate set of direct connections among regional airports every day. The results of the analysis of data from 2019 on the amount of energy consumption and GHG emissions indicate that in Europe, it would be possible to achieve reduce GHG emissions by 5% without reducing the number of passengers using air transport. The study was prepared after conducting literature studies, data analysis and using the method of formulating scenarios. The proposed solution has the features of an innovative business model, the implementation of which allows for obtaining more favorable effects using already available resources.

Cost estimating based on building cost index plays an important role in project planning and management by providing accurate cost information. Recently, tremendous advances in cost estimating has been made but serious inaccuracies in it are still too frequently witnessed. This study aims to improve estimating accuracy for residential building costs in New Zealand. In this study, the New Zealand house prices index is involved in the transfer function models to produce forecasts of building costs for one-storey house, two-storey house, and town house in New Zealand. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed models, this study compares the estimate results of the transfer function models with the univariate ARIMA models. The results indicate that the proposed transfer function models can achieve better outcomes than ARIMA models by considering the causality between building costs and New Zealand house prices. During the modelling process, the better cost estimation approach can be identified, and the movements of building costs are shown.

There are now a wide variety of global metrics. To find the degree of overlap between these different measures, we employ a principal components analysis (PCA) to 15 indices across 145 countries. Our results demonstrate that the most important underlying dimension highlights that economic development and social progress go hand in hand with state stability. The results are used to produce categorical divisions of the world. The threefold division identifies a world composed of what we describe and map as Rich, Poor and Middle countries. A five-group classification provided a more nuanced categorization described as; The Very Rich, Free and Stable, Affluent and Free, Upper Middle, Lower Middle, and Poor and Not Free.

With the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 55 new drugs in 2023, a figure consistent with the number authorized in the last five years (53 per year on average). Thus, 2023 is the second-best FDA harvest after 2018 (59 approvals) in all the series. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) continue to be the class of drugs with most approvals, with an exceptional 12, a number that makes it the most outstanding year for this class. As in 2022, five proteins/enzymes have been approved in 2023. However, no antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) has been released onto the market. With respect to TIDES (peptides and oligonucleotides), 2023 has proved a spectacular year, with a total of nine approvals, corresponding to five peptides and four oligonucleotides. Natural products continue to be the best source of inspiration for drug development, with 10 new products on the market. Three drugs in this year’s harvest are pegylated, which may indicate the return of pegylation as a method to increase the half-lives of drugs, after the withdrawal of peginesatide from the market in 2013. Following the trends of recent years, two bispecific drugs have been authorized in 2023. As in preceding years, fluorine and/or N-aromatic heterocycles are present in most of the drugs. Herein, the 55 new drugs approved by the FDA in 2023 are analyzed exclusively on the basis of their chemical structure. They are classified as the following: biologics (antibodies, proteins/enzymes); TIDES (peptide and oligonucleotides); combined drugs; pegylated drugs; natural products; nitrogen aromatic heterocycles; fluorine-containing molecules; and other small molecules.

Background: With continuous advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS), novel hepadnaviruses have been discovered in many species over the last 10 years. Methods: In this study, the cloud search and analysis of NGS data published in Nature by Edgar et al. was used as a basis to re-mine and reanalyze public NGS data for new hepadnaviruses. Results: Ultimately, at least 41 new species of hepadnaviruses were identified, including hepadnaviruses from the model animals hamster and mouse, frog hepadnavirus with pan-species infectivity, and diverse African cichlid hepadnaviruses that circulate within populations. Conclusions: The discovery of the new species of hepadnaviruses not only provides new clues for the study of the origin and evolution of hepadnaviruses, but also can be used to construct new hepadnavirus animal infection models, which will be helpful for the research of eradicative drugs for hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Urban green spaces provide a range of environmental and health benefits, which may become even more critical during times of crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, with a radical shift in mobility, additional concerns over safety, and access temporarily restricted during the implementation of social distancing policies, the experience and use of urban green spaces may be reduced. This is particularly concerning for densely populated cities like New York, considered the first U.S. epicenter or vanguard of the outbreak. To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the perception and use of urban green spaces, we conducted a social survey during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City (May 13 - June 15, 2020). The results of the survey show respondents continued to use urban green spaces during the pandemic and consider them to be more important for mental and physical health than before the pandemic began. However, the study revealed a pattern of concerns residents have about green space accessibility and safety, and found key differences between the concerns and needs of different populations, suggesting a crucial role for inclusive decision-making, support for additional management strategies, and urban ecosystem governance that reflect the differential values, needs and concerns of communities across the City. As urban centers face looming budget cuts and reduced capacity, this study provides some empirical evidence to illustrate the value of urban green spaces as critical urban infrastructure, and may have implications for funding, policy, and management, of urban green spaces in NYC, with potential applications to other cities, particularly during times of crisis.

Developmental toxicity testing urgently requires the implementation of human relevant new approach methodologies (NAMs) that better recapitulate the peculiar nature of human physiology during pregnancy, especially the placenta and the maternal/fetal interface, which represent a key stage for the human lifelong health. Fit-for-purpose NAMs for the placental-fetal interface are desirable to improve the biological knowledge of environmental exposure at molecular level and to reduce the high cost, time and ethical impact of animal studies. This article reviews the state of the art on the available in vitro (placental, fetal and amniotic cell-based systems) and in silico NAMs of human relevance for developmental toxicity testing purposes, as well as of the available Adverse Outcome Pathways related to developmental toxicity. The OECD TG 414 for the identification and assessment of deleterious effects of prenatal exposure to chemicals on developing organisms will be discussed to delineate the regulatory context and to better debate what is missing and needed in the context of the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis to significantly improve this sector. Starting from this analysis, the development of a novel human feto-placental organ-on-chip platform will be introduced as an innovative alternative tool for developmental toxicity testing, considering possible implementation and validation strategies to overcome the limitation of the current animal studies and NAMs available in regulatory toxicology and in the biomedical field.

Staudinger taught us that macromolecules were made up of the covalently bonded monomer repeat units chaining up as polymer chains. The chemical nature of the monomer directed the type of covalent bonds conferring most of the specific properties of the polymer. The more the number of repeat units the longer the chains and the more the possibility for the chains to assume a variety of shapes, from an extended elongated one to a more compact coiled one. Also, the chemical process that resulted in the synthesis of macromolecules produced many chains, often not with the same shape or size. The properties of the polymers improved when the chains became longer but it was more difficult to process them: their viscosity increased with molecular weight; viscosity was no longer an intensive property like it was for small liquids. The main question raised in polymer physics remains: how do these long chains interact and move as a group when submitted to shear deformation at high temperature when they are viscous liquids? This question is debated in a field of polymer physics called RHEOLOGY, whose purpose is to understand the viscoelastic aspects of polymer melts deformation. The current consensus is that we need to distinguish two cases: the deformation of “un-entangled chains” for macromolecules with molecular weight, M, smaller than Me, “the entanglement molecular weight”, and the deformation of “entangled” chains for M > Me. Several eminent scientists have extensively studied these 2 cases over the last 70 years. Paul J. Flory, in 1974, and Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, in 1991, have been awarded the Nobel Price in Chemistry and Physics, respectively, for their significant theoretical contribution to understand these challenging problems. For both of these authors the properties of polymers derive from the statistical characteristics of the macromolecule itself, the designated statistical system that defines the thermodynamic state of the polymer. Me, the molecular weight between entanglements, is defined from the rubber elasticity theory and is known to be equal to Mc/2 where Mc is the molecular weight for the entanglements when viscosity measurements are made. The current paradigm is that the viscoelasticity of un-entangled melts ( M < Mc) is well described by the Rouse model and that the entanglement issues raised by the impact of the increase of the length of the macromolecules on the melt viscoelasticity, when M > Mc, are well understood by the reptation model introduced by de Gennes and co-workers. Both models can be classified in the category of “chain dynamics statistics”. In this paper we examine in details the failures and the current challenges facing the current paradigm of polymer rheology: the Rouse model for M < Mc, the reptation model for M > Mc, the time-temperature superposition principle, the strain induced time dependence of viscosity, shear-refinement and sustained-orientation. The basic failure of the current paradigm and its inherent inability to fully describe the experimental reality is documented in this paper. In the discussion and conclusion of the paper we suggest that a different solution to explain the viscoelasticity of polymer chains and of their “entanglement” is needed. This requires a change of paradigm to describe the dynamics of the interactions within the chains and across the chains. A brief description of our currently proposed open dissipative statistical approach, “the Grain-Field Statistics”, is presented.

Background: Iranian traditional medicine is a holistic school of medicine with a long prolific history. It describes numerous concepts and the relationships between them. However, no unified terminology has been proposed for the concepts of this medicine up to the present time. Considering the extensive use of concepts in the numerous textbooks written by the scholars over centuries, comprehending the totality of the terminology is obviously a very challenging task. To resolve this issue and overcome the obstacles, and code the concepts in a reusable manner, constructing an ontology of the concepts of Iranian traditional medicine seems a necessity.Methods: Makhzan al-Advieh, an encyclopedia of materia medica compiled by Mohammad Hossein Aghili Khorasani, was selected as the resource to create an ontology of Mizaj. The steps followed to accomplish this task included (1) compiling the list of classes for Mizaj; (2) arranging the classes in taxonomy; (3) determining object properties and their cardinalities; (4) specifying annotation properties including codes, labels, synonyms, and definitions for each concept; (5) reviewing the fields pertaining to Mizaj of all monographs in Makhzan al-Advieh. The ontology was created using Protégé with adherence to the principles of ontology development provided by the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology (OBO) foundry. Results: Mizaj ontology was constructed with a final inclusion of 105 classes, three object properties, and 1078 axioms in the Iranian Traditional Medicine General Ontology database, IrGO, freely available at http://jafarilab.com/irgo/. An indented tree view and an interactive graph view using WebVOWL were used to visualize the ontology. All classes were linked to their instances in the UNaProd database to create a knowledge-base of Mizaj. Conclusion: We constructed an ontology-based knowledge base of ITM concepts of Mizaj in the domain of materia medica to help offer a shared and common understanding of this concept, enable reuse of the knowledge, and make the assumptions explicit. Extending IrGO will bridge the gap between traditional and conventional schools of medicine and help guide future research on new treatment options.

In order to establish a new discipline specializing in accident science from the perspective of safety science. Under the guidance of the current research theories and methods of safety science, combined with the research paradigm of humanities and social medicine, this paper puts forward new viewpoints, new theories and new models about accident research. First of all, through literature retrieval, this paper analyzes the relevant research results of accidents at home and abroad, and expounds the existing problems and the basic trend of accident science research. Secondly, it puts forward eight kinds of attribute relations of the accident, and makes clear the characteristics and connotation of the accident. In the study of accident types, a hierarchical classification model based on accident cognition is created for the first time. It also points out the logical relevance of five levels of accident science research and the realistic relevance of three levels. At the same time, according to the thought of science of science, this paper puts forward a new definition of safety under the thinking of accident science and other basic concepts related to safety science, and explains the connotation. In addition, it creates and constructs the basic concept of accident science, establishes the conceptual model of accident science, and points out the “3-4-5” model of accident science research and its connotation. Thirdly, draw lessons from the interdisciplinary paradigm to study the relevant theoretical basis and discipline classification relationship of accident science, and construct the tree of accident science. Finally, the research contents of three main aspects of accident science are summarized. The results show that the research results in this paper not only play a fundamental role in the basic construction of accident science, but also further enrich and perfect the discipline system of safety science, which has a certain theoretical significance.

The epidemiology of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) is currently changing, driven by aggressive immunosuppressive therapy, leading to an expanded spectrum of patients at risk of IFIs. Aspergillosis is a leading cause of IFIs, which usually affects immunocompromised patients. There is a limited number of antifungal medications available for treating IFIs and their effectiveness is often hindered by rising resistance rates and practical limitations. Consequently, new antifungals, especially those with novel mechanisms of action, have become increasingly required. This study assessed the activity of four novel antifungal agents with different mechanisms of activity: manogepix, rezafungin, ibrexafungerp, and olorofim against 100 isolates of Aspergillus section Terrei, containing amphotericin B (AmB) wildtypes/non-wildtypes and azole-susceptible/-resistant strains, according to the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) method. In general, all tested agents showed potent and consistent activity against tested isolates, exhibiting a geometric mean (GM) and minimum effective concentration (MEC)/minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) range respectively as follows: manogepix (0.048 mg/L, 0.032-0.5 mg/L), rezafungin (0.020 mg/L, 0.016-0.5 mg/L), ibrexafungerp (0.071 mg/L, 0.032-2 mg/L), and olorofim (0.008 mg/L, 0.008-0.032 mg/L). In terms of MIC90/MEC90, olorofim had the lowest values (0.008 mg/L), followed by rezafungin (0.032 mg/L), manogepix (0.125 mg/L), and ibrexafungerp (0.25 mg/L). All antifungals tested demonstrated promising in vitro activity against Aspergillus section Terrei, including A. terreus and cryptic species that were azole-resistant and AmB non-wildtype.

As a mediator variable, self-confidence is one of the most effective elements of the decision-making process of consumer behaviour. This research has studied the effects of different aspects of consuming fashion on the self-confidence and behaviour of consumers in Tehran’s clothing market. This study has considered the acceptance of new products, interest in mode and fashion, utilitarianism, and personal taste in its analysis. This research aims to understand the fashion buying behaviour amongst Iranian consumers in consideration of their attitude towards self-confidence and aspects of fashion consumption. The statistic sample is 400 consumers from Tehran’s clothing market who have been chosen based on the random availability procedure. The primary tool in this research was a questionary used to testify the assumptions and a model fit created by using structural equations and factor analysis. This research showed that the interest in mode and fashion, personal taste, utilitarianism, and new products positively impact self-confidence. In addition, the positive impact of self-confidence on fashion buying behaviour was confirmed.

Background: The new media provides a convenient digital platform to access, use and exchange health information. As a special group of health care, maternal is still of international concern due to their high mortality rate. Improving maternal health as a Millennium Development Goal of the United Nations is an important quest for the health care system. Scientific research provides advice on how to improve maternal health through stringent reasoning and accurate data. However, the dramatic increase of publications, the diversity of themes, and the dispersion of researchers may reduce efficiency. Objective: This study aims to analyze the research progress on maternal health under the global new media environment, exploring the current research hotspots and research frontiers. Methods: A scientometric analysis was carried out by CiteSpace5.7.R1, searching in the core database of Web of Science for articles published in English from 1998 to 2021, and combined topic words such as new media, maternal, and health. In total, 3312 articles have been retrieved, of which 2270 studies have been included for further analysis. Top countries and institutions, potentially high-impact literature, research frontiers, and hotspots were analyzed in this study. Results: The number of publications grew rapidly after 2008, from 29 publications sharply increasing to 472 publications by 2020. Research centers concentrated in Latin America, such as the University of Toronto, the University of California. The work of Larsson M, Lagan BM, Tiedje L, and Helle C had a high potential impact. Most of the research subjects were maternal and newborn babies, and the research frontiers focused on health education and maternal psychological problems. Maternal mental health, maternal and infant nutrition, weight, production technology, and equipment were hotspots. Conclusion: The development of new media has brought a new era for maternal health, characterized by psychological qualities, healthy and reasonable physical conditions, and advanced technology.

The genus Aphanommata in the Old World is reviewed. Aphanommata kuscheli sp. nov. from São Nicolau and A. strakai sp. nov. from Fogo (both Cape Verde islands) are described. Aphanommata euphorbiarum (Wollaston, 1867) from Santo Antão in the Cape Verde islands is redescribed and its lectotype is designated. All three Aphanommata species from the Cape Verde islands as well as A. filum (Mulsant & Rey, 1859) from Old World are diagnosed, illustrated, and keyed. Mature larva of A. kuscheli sp. nov. is described, larval morphology is discussed and the current state of knowledge about immature stages of Cossoninae is summarized. Vertical and inter-insular distributional pattern of Cape Verde Aphanommata and Pselactus is reviewed and discussed.

The main focus of this work is to extend the knowledge about the complexity of issues of oxidative stress. Natural compounds play a serious role in multiple aspects of both human, leading to clear health-promoting effects. This work is focused on the potential application cosmetic formulations containing including but not limited to of clove water and isolated clove oils on their aid in the control of the diseases. The aim of our work was to prepare to evaluate cosmetic formulations containing clove oil, eugenol or new eugenol ester derivative (eugenyl dichloroacetate - EDChA) but also cosmetic formulations containing the aqueous phase obtained after separation of essential oil following the clove buds steam distillation. To evaluate the antioxidants transdermal delivery system, in vitro permeation experiments in a Franz diffusion cell were performed using pig skin. The antioxidative capacity of the cosmetic formulations obtained was determined by the DPPH free radical reduction method. In the next stage, the antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS, and Folin–Ciocalteu methods) of the fluid that penetrated through pig skin and of the fluid obtained after skin extraction, were also evaluated. For comparison, studies of cosmetic formulation containing alone dichloroacetic acid (DChAA) were as well carried out. The obtained cosmetic formulations were characterized by of antioxidant activity estimated after 24 hours of conducting the experiment, which indicates long-term protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the deeper layers of the skin. The results of this work contribute to the development of cosmetic formulations with antioxidant potential, emphasizing that the water phases are waste from the process of cloves steam distillation and are not used to prepare cosmetic formulations. The use of waste water from the clove buds steam distillation process is environmentally friendly and not allows us to waste, containing however valuable biologically active compounds (furfural, methyl salicylate, 4-allilofenol, eugenol, α- and β-caryophyllene, eugenyl acetate, β-caryophyllene oxide). Together, these results suggest that cosmetic formulations may be potential drug candidates for chemopreventive, antineoplastic and antimutagenic therapy.

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

Pedestrian object detection plays a significant role in intelligent systems such as intelligent traffic and monitoring. Traditional machine learning methods on pedestrian detection have shown various drawbacks, \eg{} low accuracy, slow speed, \etc The Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based object detection algorithms have demonstrated remarkable advantages in the field of pedestrian detection. However, the mainstream CNNs still face the problems of slow speed and low detection accuracy, especially on small and occluded targets from aerial perspective. In this paper, we propose Multi-Scale Attention YOLO (MSA-YOLO) detection algorithm to address the above issues. MSA-YOLO includes a Squeeze, Excitation and Cross Stage Partial (SECSP) channel attention module for CNNs to extract richer pedestrian features with a small number of extra parameters. It also contains a multi-scale prediction module to capture the information among different pedestrian scales, which can recognize the small objects with higher accuracy and significantly reduce the missed detection. To sufficiently evaluate our proposed model, we manually collect and annotate a new benchmark dataset, Luoyang Pedestrian Dataset \footnote{The dataset can be downloaded through this anonymous link: \url{https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13po1FX7Qk5RDgb60-dzOi74cq_kqDJtM?usp=sharing} }, which has much more sample annotations, features, scenes and image view angles than the existing benchmark datasets. In addition, the images in our dataset have higher resolution than most of benchmark pedestrian detection datasets, which can provide more detailed features of pedestrians and thus improve the model performance. When tested on Luoyang Pedestrian Dataset, our proposed MSA-YOLO algorithm significantly outperform the most commonly used baseline models with almost the same model size. This shows the efficiency of our proposed model. (The code and new dataset will be released to the public later.)

Pandemic scenario has significantly changed several factors of life, including teaching, and learning at university. The development of suitable teaching materials to support university studies is mandatory to overcome distance learning difficulties and improve traditional teaching methodologies. This work explains a novel method for the preparation of teaching materials for medical sciences, but also plausible for other learning fields. An encephalon was extracted and prepared by using this methodology for teaching purposes. More than 200 students evaluated several factors of the material prepared this way, indicating a better understanding (up to 80%) of theoretical contents related to this human section, together with a high usability and good physical appearance

Current acceleration in digital innovations, the unexpected challenges in our social interactions, open access to virtualization, huge limitation in our physical spaces, and unpredictable changes in our old lifestyles - as originated from the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 - continue to provide us with a framework, rapidly updating under our eyes, of the modifications our world is undergoing by pursuing into the “new digital age”. Or, as many scholars say nowadays, into the new normal! These are shared and deep changes that, regardless of their permanence or temporariness in the time, concretely stress, ever more greatly, their “own” effects on how ideally a city should function. Forcing us to reflect on the real ability to achieve choices and visions for the future by taking vantage from the new digital platforms. In the pages of this article authors, through different eyes but sharing an early response to the matter of new Governance, explore the theme of a radical change of those already consolidated paradigms and, therefore, of the innovations that are transforming the way we understand our society and its technologic advancements, economics, and culture, as defined through dimensions of time and space. This article identifies a methodologic vision for acquiring a more democratic and participatory (inclusive) dimension in the newest configuration of contemporary cities, the new smart city, and in the possible innovations in reading the common sentiments and wishes through the new digitalized world. The analysis investigates how ICT is altering the meanings/ideas of “urban planning”, driving us toward a more effective “governance” through a citizen-centred digital approach. Indeed, city governance's success must be measured based on the “listening capacity” of the inhabitants and the facilities that we are capable to provide to citizens. “Sentiment Analysis” tool is tested as a useful tool to achieve these aims.

Green innovation has become the mainstream of the era, and New Urbanization is an inevitable choice in the process of urbanization in China. Focusing on the topics of green innovation and new urbanization, much work has been done to find their factors respectively while the relationship between the two remains to be explored. Hence, in this article, representative indicators of new urbanization and green innovation are selected to study the Yangtze River Delta City Group from the perspective of both the entire urban agglomeration and a single city, in terms of time and space, using the entropy method and the coupling model. The results show that (1). Green innovation promotes the new urbanization development and there is a synergistic effect between the two systems. (2). The level of economic development is an important factor that affects the degree of coupling degree and coordination degree between the two interactions, and its influence is better than the spatial effect. (3). Green innovation and new urbanization have positive spatial autocorrelation and regional agglomeration (there are High-High, Low-Low, and High-Low collections).

Developing new energy is critical to China's green and low-carbon development. And the New Energy Demonstration City Policy (NEDCP) is a vital innovation policy that inspires the development of new energy. Is the NEDCP facilitating green and low-carbon development, if so, how? Employing unbalanced panel data from 2003 to 2017, the impact of NEDCP on green and low-carbon development was studied by using the "difference in difference" (DID) model. We find that this policy can take significantly role. After various robustness tests, our results are still valid. According to the heterogeneity analysis, non-resource and non-old industrial base cities have a greater positive impact from this policy. The mechanism analysis denotes that the positive policy effect works through upgrading the industrial structure and stimulating urban innovation. The substantial empirical evidence presented in this article supports the continued promotion and implementation of new energy demonstration cities.

Young people living with perinatal infections of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (YLPHIV) face a chronic disease, with treatment including adherence to life-long antiretroviral treatment (ART). The aim of this QES was to explore adherence to ART for YLPHIV as an assemblage within the framework of the BPS model with a new materialist perspective. We searched up to November 2021 and followed the ENTREQ and Cochrane guidelines for QES. All screening, data extraction and critical appraisal was done in duplicate. We analysed and interpreted the findings innovatively, by creating images of meaning, a storyboard, and storylines. We then reported the findings in a narrative first person story. We included 47 studies and identified 9 storylines. We found that treatment adherence has less to do with humans’ preferences, motivations, needs and dispositions, and more to do with how bodies, viruses, things, ideas, institutions, environments, social processes, and social structures assemble. This QES highlights that adherence to ART for YLPHIV is a multisensorial experience in a multi agentic world. Future research into rethinking the linear and casual inferences we are accustomed too in evidence-based health care is needed if we are to adopt multidisciplinary approaches to address pressing issues such as adherence to ART.

This paper presents a new method for parameterizing the Lorentz group based on coupled parameters. From the Euler–Hamilton equations, an additional angular rapidity and perpendicular rapidity are obtained, and the Hamiltonian and Lagrangian of a relativistic particle are expanded into rapidity spectra. A so-called passage to the limit is introduced that makes it possible to decompose physical quantities into spectra in terms of elementary functions when explicit decomposition is difficult. New rapidity-dependent Lorentz-invariant coordinates are obtained, and the descriptions of particle motion using the old and new Lorentz-invariant forms as applied to plane waves are compared. Based on a classical model of particle motion in the field of a plane monochromatic electromagnetic wave and in that of a plane laser pulse, the rapidity-dependent spectral decompositions into elementary functions are presented, and the Euler–Hamilton equations are derived as rapidity functions in 3+1 dimensions.

This paper is a mini literature review about electromagnetic field’s effects on cells, tissues and new treatment modalities. We have reviewed a papers which have been published in high quality journals in the last 5 years as two authors. This review’s aim is to be a resource for experimental studies about electricity’s effects on cell biology and pathophysiology. As a result of this literature review, we found that especially extremely low electric frequency and intermediate frequency fields have very important pathophysiological effects. We have mentioned four important expressions on this subject; electroporation, electrofusion, electrochemotherapy, gene electrotransference. Two different new treatment approaches have been developed by use of these two important electrical waves. First is tumor treating fields and the other is pulsed electric fields. Most studies in literature have been done with extremely low frequency and pulsed electric fields. In terms of diseases, most studies are about glioblastoma multiforme and malign melanoma.Most studies in literature have been done with extremely low frequency and pulsed electric fields. In terms of diseases, most studies are about glioblastoma and melanoma.

The transmission characteristic of COVID-19 is of similar magnitude to severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the 1918 pandemic influenza. The virus is now in more than 100 countries and on nearly all continents. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. There is no current evidence from random clinical trials (RCTs) to recommend any specific anti-COVID-19 treatment for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection. In order to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, here we propose an innovative superinfection therapeutic (SIT) strategy, which could complement the development of prophylactic vaccines. SIT is based on clinical observations that unrelated viruses might interact in co-infected patients. During SIT, the patient benefit from superinfection with an apathogenic dsRNA virus such as the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), which is a powerful activator of the interferon-dependent antiviral gene program. An attenuated vaccine strain of IBDV was already successfully administered to resolve acute and persistent infections induced by two completely different viruses, the hepatitis B (DNA) and C (RNA) viruses (HBV/HCV). Importantly, the epidemiological efficacy of a similar strategy to SIT had already been successfully tested in large controlled trials. Standard live orally administered enterovirus vaccines that stimulate the production of endogenous interferon of the host mitigated the seasonal outbreaks of influenza and other associated acute respiratory infections in 152,042 individuals without adverse reactions.

This paper explores the challenges faced by blue-collared international migrants in adapting to new and unfamiliar climates while pursuing job opportunities, with a focus on poverty alleviation. Drawing on existing research and empirical evidence, the study investigates the trials encountered by these migrants as they navigate climate shocks and assesses the potential impacts on poverty reduction efforts. The findings underscore the significant difficulties blue-collared migrants experience when confronted with abrupt changes in climate conditions, adversely affecting their physical and mental well-being, as well as their employment prospects. The process of adjustment involves not only acclimating to new climate patterns but also navigating cultural nuances and social dynamics, exacerbating stress and feelings of isolation. Consequently, these challenges can perpetuate poverty by disrupting employment stability and limiting opportunities for career advancement. To address these issues, the paper proposes comprehensive support measures, including targeted pre-departure training programs, access to retraining opportunities, and assistance in securing sustainable livelihoods. By prioritizing climate resilience and empowering blue-collared migrants to adapt effectively to new climates, it becomes possible to enhance their livelihood prospects, reduce poverty levels, and foster sustainable development. The paper concludes by highlighting the significance of integrating climate adaptation strategies with poverty alleviation efforts to create a more inclusive and resilient future for blue-collared migrants in their pursuit of sustainable livelihoods.

Authors evaluated the relevant literature related to the purging which is the interaction between selection and inbreeding where the population may get rid of its inbreeding load at least partially. The backroad of the relevant theory was given and the available methods were described both based on the conventional quantitative genetic approach (based on genealogy data) and based on the latest genomic methods. The different parameters necessary for signalling purging (highlighting those inbreeding coefficients which are not yet been widely known in animal and veterinary science) were presented together with the relevant results of the literature. The available statistical methods together with the softwares and R packages to calculate various inbreeding coefficients and to determine inbreeding depression and purging were provided. The main results of the different approaches obtained in laboratory ZOO and domesticated populations (lethal equivalents, ancestral inbreeding, Inbreeding-Purging Model, genomic approaches) were summarized and presented. Application possibilities and future prospective of purging was also discussed.

In the present work, we report on a 3D MOF of {[Pb5(3-OH)(3-NO3)3(6-pmdc)3·H2O}n formula (pmdc = pyrimidine-4,6-dicarboxylate) synthesized by an oven-heated solvent-free procedure. The large connectivity afforded by the three ligands in their coordination to lead(II) ions grows cubic building units characterized by a central Pb atom with an unusual coordination index of 12 and six pmdc ligands occupying the faces. These cubic units are linked one another giving rise to a quite condensed structure that represents an unprecedented topology showing the (4.62)6(43)2(45.610)3(45.68.82)6(46.69)6(612.83) point symbol. The crystalline material has been characterized by routine physico-chemical techniques to confirm its purity and its thermal behaviour has been also studied by thermogravimetric and thermodiffractometric analyses. The solid presents greenish blue photoluminescent emission based on pmdc ligands, as revealed time-dependent density-functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations, by that is substantially more intense than in free H2pmdc ligand according to its improved quantum yield. The emissive capacity of the material is further analysed according to decreasing temperature of the polycrystalline sample, finding that sizeable long-lasting phosphorescence is present.

The majority of Candida species are known as non-pathogenic yeasts and rarely involved in human diseases. However, recently case reports of human infections caused by non-albicans Candida species have increased, mostly in immunocompromised hosts. Our study aimed to describe and caracterise as thoroughly as possible, a new species of the Candida genus, named here Candida massiliensis (PMML0037), isolated from a clinical sample of human sputum. We compared genetic data based on the sequences of four genetic regions: "Internal Transcribed Spacers" of rRNA, D1/D2 domains (28S large subunit rRNA) and part of the genes encoding Translation Elongation Factor 1-α and β-tubulin2, to morphological characters, from scanning electron microscopy (TM 4000 Plus, SU5000), physiological, including the results of oxidation and assimilation tests of different carbon sources by the Biolog system, and chemical mapping by Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. Lastly, the in vitro antifungal susceptibility profile was performed using the E-testTM exponential gradient method. The multilocus analysis supported the genetic position of Candida massiliensis (PMML0037) as a new species of the genus Candida, and the phenotypic analysis highlighted its unique morphological and chemical profile when compared to other Candida species included in the study.

This paper discovers that current variational principle and Noether theorem for different physics systems with (in)finite freedom systems have missed the double extremum processes of the general extremum functional that both is deduced by variational principle and is necessarily taken in deducing all the physics laws, but these have not been corrected for over a century since Noether's proposing her famous theorem, which result in the crisis deducing relevant mathematical laws and all physics laws. This paper discovers there is the hidden logic cycle that one assumes Euler-Lagrange equations, and then he finally deduces Euler-Lagrange equations via the equivalent relation in the whole processes in all relevant current references. This paper corrects the current key mistakes that when physics systems choose the variational extreme values, the appearing processes of the physics systems are real physics processes, otherwise, are virtual processes in all current articles, reviews and (text)books. The real physics should be after choosing the variational extreme values of physics systems, the general extremum functional of the physics systems needs to further choose the minimum absolute extremum zero of the general extremum functional, otherwise, the appearing processes of physics systems are still virtual processes. Using the double extremum processes of the general extremum functionals, the crisis and the hidden logic cycle in current variational principle and current Noether theorem are solved. Furthermore, the new mathematical and physical double extremum processes and their new mathematical pictures and physics for (in)finite freedom systems are discovered. This paper gives both general variational principle and general Noether theorem as well as their classical and quantum new physics, which would rewrite all relevant current different branches of science, as key tools of studying and processing them.

In this paper, we introduce two discrete degenerate random variables, namely the degenerate binomial and degenerate Poisson random variables. We deduce the expectations of the degenerate binomial random variables. We compute the generating function of the moments of the degenerate Poisson random variables, which leads us to define the new type degenerate Bell polynomials, and hence obtain explicit expressions for the moments of those random variables in terms of such polynomials. We also get the variances of the degenerate Poisson random variables. Finally, we illustrate two examples of the degenerate Poisson random variables.

Business school curriculums are designed to improve business skills and a student’s eventual workplace performance. In addition to these business skill sets the emerging business environment demands softer skills associated with ethical decision-making and sustainable business practices. Understanding the key influencers of ethical orientation and attitudes towards the environment is the first critical step for curriculum planning designed to develop both ethical decision-making and environmental sensibilities of students in business schools. Using a bivariate regression analysis (OLS) that compared the established New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale and the newly introduced Ethical Orientation Scale (EOS), this study assesses environmental eco-consciousness and ethical orientation over time and across varying socio-demographic variables. The study shows first, that in addition to socio-cultural variables, situational factors influence ethical decision-making. Secondly, it illuminates that ethical orientations as measured by the EOS predicts beliefs about the environment as measured by the NEP scale. It further provides evidence of the ethical underpinnings of the New Ecological Paradigm as well as provides initial validation for the new EOS. These outcomes provide additional levers to assist business educators in the creation of high impact teaching strategies to measure and encourage ethical decision-making and sustainable business practices that protect the environment.