This communication investigates possible anomalies in the lithosphere atmosphere and ionosphere on the occasion of the ML=3.3 earthquake that occurred on 1st January 2023 close to Guidonia Montecelio (Rome, Italy). This earthquake followed another event on 23 December 2022 of magnitude ML=3.1 with a very close epicentre (distance less than 1km). Seismological investigations clearly show an acceleration of seismicity in the last six months in the area. Two solutions of fitting time to failure power law on the Cumulative Benioff strain curve are the more likelihood: the ML3.3 of 1 January is the mainshock of seismic sequence or incoming earthquakes of a magnitude of about 4.1 provides a slightly better fit of the seismic data. Further investigation are necessary to assess if the accumulated stress have been totally released or not. No atmospheric anomalies related to this seismic activity have been identified even if some SO2 emissions could come from tectonic or volcanic sources in the South-Tyrrhenian Sea. Swarm satellites' magnetic data shows an anomalous track on 16 December 2022, which is temporally compatible with the seismic acceleration but other sources for the anomalous signal are also possible.

As in other parts of the world, natural disasters are increasingly causing significant loss of life and economic damage in Turkey. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, storms, fires, and hailstorms have been occurring since ancient times, but now they are being compounded by factors such as climate change and the deterioration of natural environments. This has led to an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters and the resulting damage. It is important to finance the economic consequences of natural disasters that threaten individuals, commercial enterprises, and the country's administration. The frequency of the public's exposure to natural disasters, insurance awareness, the financial size of the disasters, the risk management policies of insurance companies, and the competence and willingness of the state and local governments to cover the damage are decisive factors. Prior to the increase in natural disasters, the country's administration was active and involved in first aid, rescue, and damage financing. However, it now has difficulty in financing the damage caused by natural disasters to individual, commercial, industrial, and agricultural assets and does not want to provide full assurance. This is because the dangers awaiting humanity in the future cannot be fully predicted. Private insurance companies undertake the task of taking over and distributing the risk in financing natural disaster losses and ensuring sustainability. Although this is a modern and rational solution, the problem is the insufficient number of insurance policies and insufficient premium production in countries where insurance awareness is not sufficiently developed. To increase premium production and geographical distribution of the risk, the state includes natural disaster insurances within the scope of compulsory insurances and mandates pre-disaster insurance policies. Following the earthquake disaster in the Marmara Region on 17.08.1999, compulsory insurance against earthquakes was introduced in Turkey with the Decree Law No. 587, which entered into force on 27.09.2000. This eliminated the obligation of the state to pay earthquake-related payments for the buildings determined by Turkish Natural Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TNCIP). Citizens have obtained modern, reliable, and regular insurance protection against earthquake damage. Naturally, the success or failure of Compulsory Earthquake Insurance (CEI) and Turkish Natural Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TNCIP) can be questioned after a major disaster. Since TNCIP is a new institution and other countries have not yet adopted it as an example, precedent institutions and past data cannot be included in the literature.

Recently on the November 4, 2022 at 03:00 PM, a M_ww 5.6 earthquake struck Cianjur district of West Java province, Indonesia. To our best knowledge, an earthquake will cause a massive damage to the manmade infrastructure and this responsible for a massive casualty. A building damage is affected by various determinant factors. One of important factors is the geological bedrock variations. Here this research aiming to elaborate the associations of geological bedrocks in Cianjur district with residential building damages caused by recent earthquakes. The results confirm that majority of building damages account for 54.67% of the total building was associated with quaternary volcanic bedrocks. The second massive building damages were observed for Andesitic Dacitic volcanic rocks accounted for 32.07%. To conclude, elaborations of geological bedrock-building damage will contribute to the better planning in the future that can reduce the damages in the urban settings.

The Ranau Earthquake that struck on 5, June 2015 and follow by February 2018 and April 2021, were a new disaster in Sabah and caused many Sabahan to panic. The unpredicted disaster also caused a serious impact on all aspects of life in Sabah. The earthquake has caused severe damage to eight primary schools in the vicinity of the epicenter; although no casualties were reported. However, the disaster has passing deep psychological effects among students. In this study, we examine how the primary school teachers enabled the student to be resilient during and after the disaster. Based on the interviews of 16 primary school students it was revealed that most of the teachers used WhatsApp to support resilience during and after the earthquake. Interviews with 16 primary school teachers revealed there were two main reasons for them to communicate with students namely, delivering emotional aid and monitoring their stress. Based on student interviews, five content categories of emotional support were identified: caring, reassuring, emotion sharing, belonging, and distracting. The main contribution of this study is social media can be used as a spontaneously and proactive tool to support student's resilience during and after the earthquake trauma.

Significant earthquakes frequently occur in Indonesia. Indonesia is situated over three active tectonic plates, resulting in the formation of faults and trenches on the land and ocean floor. For the last 120 years since 1900, there have been more than 1,250 significant earthquake events in Indonesia. In this study, we analyse Indonesia's significant earthquake events using geostatistical and geovisualisation methods to produce an appropriate geospatial analysis platform using the RShiny package to build the WebGIS application. The results show that the earthquake events were spatially distributed from the Sumatera fault in the western part of Indonesia to the southern part of Indonesia, where the Java trench was located and the eastern part of Indonesia. The WebGIS application received a positive evaluation by respondents, with a mean value of 1.617 for pragmatic quality, 1.808 for hedonic quality, and 1.713 for overall quality. This means that the WebGIS application is of good quality based on respondents' impressions. The users also more easily gained insight into information as a result of geostatistical methods. The information gained by the users during the user interaction with the WebGIS platform overlapped with the information that the researcher started with, that is, the spatial cluster of significant earthquakes in Indonesia.

This paper presents quantitative research results regarding the influence of demographic factors on the earthquake risk perception of the citizens of Belgrade. This research aims to determine how much the citizens of Belgrade are aware of the risk and prepared to react in the event of an earthquake. The relationship between gender, age, level of education, and facility ownership with risk perception was examined. T-test, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to examine the relationship between the variables and the earthquake risk perception. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire that was given and then collected online among 235 Belgrade respondents during September 2020. The questions were divided into three categories. The first part of the questionnaire was consisted of general questions about the demographic characteristics of the respondents, then the questions that would determine the level of awareness of the respondents about earthquakes, and finally, the questions for determining the respondents' preparedness. The results of the research show that women have a higher perception of risk. It has been proven that the youngest respondents from the age category of 18-30 have the lowest risk perception. The influence of education level in no case showed a statistically significant correlation with risk perception.

Lombok earthquake that occurred in July 2018 has three large magnitude earthquakes that caused huge losses; 564 victims died, 1684 injured, 445 343 refugees, and 215 628 houses were damaged. The role of anesthesiology is very important to give prompt therapy for injured victims. This research gave an overview of the important role of Anesthesiologist and the selection of anesthesia techniques during the natural disasters’ victims’ management. This study was conducted by collecting data of all earthquake victims treated at the emergency room (ER) of RSUD NTB on August 6^th and 7^th 2018 and all victims operated during August 5 – 25^th 2018. All data were recorded, analyzed, and presented in descriptive form using frequency, pie chart, and bar diagrams. The result shown that the highest number of patients treated in ER are during the first seven days after the earthquake and reduced to several weeks. The majority of patients treated are trauma patients who need orthopedic surgery. Since limited number of anesthesiologist should be considered with the right selection of anesthesia techniques, so that the disaster preparedness could be prepared well and the disaster management could run well. General anesthesia was widely used than regional anesthesia, but the different is not significant. The type of regional anesthetic drug usually used is lidodex in combination with catapres. The role of anesthesiologist during disaster is important to handle a safe and optimal surgical condition.

Knowledge about the liquefaction vulnerability in Pariaman city which is prone to an earthquake is very much needed in disaster mitigation based spatial planning. The liquefaction is an event of loss of the strength of the sandy soil layer caused by the vibration of the earthquake, where the liquefaction occurs in the sandy soil layer which has loose material in the form of sand that is not compact or not solid. This research was conducted by analyzing the potential of liquefaction vulnerability based on the Conus penetration to produce Microzonation of the susceptibility of subsidence due to liquefaction at 4 locations in Pariaman city, i.e., Marunggi village, Taluak village, Pauh Timur village and Padang Birik-Birik village. The Conus penetration testing is carried out using the piezocone (CPTU) method and mechanical Cunos penetration, and approach using Geographic Information System (GIS). The results showed that the potential of liquefaction was found at the sandy soil layer of sand and a mixture of sand and silt, which is characterized by the value of Cunos resistance and local resistance each smaller than 15 MPa and 150 kPa at varying depths. Based on the results of the analysis using this method, the critical conditions of liquefaction found in the medium sandy soil to solid. The fine sand layer which has the potential for liquefaction is in sand units formed from coastal deposits, coastal ridges and riverbanks. This liquefaction vulnerability zones analysis is limited to a depth of 6.00 m due to the limitations of the equipment used. The results of the analysis show that the fine sand layer which has the potential for liquefaction occurs at a depth of> 1.00-6.00 m with the division of zones, i.e., 1) High liquefaction in the sandy soil layer which has a critical acceleration (a) <0.10 g with shallow groundwater surface; 2) Medium liquefaction in the sandy soil layer which has a critical acceleration (a) between 0.10–0.20 g with shallow groundwater surface; and 3) Low and very low liquefaction in the sandy soil layer which has a critical acceleration (a) between 0.20–0.30 g with an average groundwater deep enough surface.

Natural hazards such as earthquakes take place around the world and when combined with humans create natural disasters. Earthquakes, a form of natural hazard, have, in recent years, caused damage and destruction in many rural areas due to the lack of sustainability in political, economic, social, physical and operational criteria. Thus, to overcome the damage caused by earthquakes in rural areas, an assessment of sustainability status seems necessary to plan and strengthen in relation to the status of sustainability indicators. Data collection was performed through field methods and questionnaires. To test the hypothesis, T statistical methods, correlation method and F-test were performed using SPSS software (V22.0, IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). The results of the study showed that villages were at a low and undesirable level for all aspects, except social index in terms of sustainability. Comparisons showed that there was a significant mean difference among villages in terms of sustainability. The multi-criteria decision-making analysis has been considered and applied to a ranking of villages in terms of sustainability against the hazard of earthquakes. Finally, in order to improve the sustainability indicators of villages, some strategies have been presented.

The statistical analysis of impact of the top 50 solar flares of X-class (1997-2023) on the global seismic activity, as well as on the earthquake preparation zones located in illuminated part of the globe and in the area of 5000 km radius around the subsolar point was carried out. It is shown by a method of epoch superposition that for all cases the increase of seismicity is observed, especially in the region around the subsolar point (up to 38%) during 10 days after the solar flare in comparison with preceding 10 days. The case study of aftershock sequence of strong M=9.1 earthquake (Su-matra-Andaman Islands, 26.12.2004) after the solar flare of X7.2 class (20.01.2005) demonstrated that the number of aftershocks with magnitude M≥2.5 increases more than 20 times after the solar flare with a delay of 7 days. For the case of the Darfield earthquake (M=7.1, 04.09.2010, New Zealand) it was shown that strong solar flares of class X and M probably triggered two strong aftershocks (M>6) with the same delay of 6 days on the Port Hills fault, which is the most sensitive to external electromagnetic impact from point of view of the fault electrical conductivity and orientation. Based on the obtained results the possible application of natural electromagnetic triggering of earthquakes is discussed for a short-term earthquake prediction using confidently recorded strong external electromagnetic triggering impacts on the specific earthquake preparation zones, as well as ionospheric perturbations due to aerosol emission from the earthquake sources recorded by satellites.

On January 1, 2024, a large earthquake occurred in Japan’s Noto region. Many buildings collapsed as a result of violent shaking. Electricity and water supplies were cut off and communications were disrupted. Immediately after the earthquake, we visited Noto and conducted disaster-relief activities. This report integrates and discusses the results of the site visits, information broadcasts by public institutions, and previous research. Evacuation centers lacked water and proper sanitation, leading to health issues, including infectious diseases. Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) were delayed in implementing infection control measures. Isolated evacuation centers faced communication and supply challenges. Infrastructure restoration, power supply, and toilet facilities at evacuation centers were delayed because of geographical challenges. There was a lack of intervention by medical professionals in evacuation centers because the DMATs were forced to invest manpower in rescue operations. It is important to have a team that can determine and carry out the necessary activities on site, even without instructions from the DMAT. It is believed to be effective to decide in advance how volunteer teams and the private sector will conduct their activities, assuming that they will be unable to contact public institutions during a disaster. In large-scale disasters, evacuees must operate evacuation centers autonomously. To achieve this, it is necessary for residents to form healthy communities regularly. A serious disaster is expected to soon occur in Japan. We hope that the experience of this disaster will be useful for preparing for future disasters.

The earthquake alert of the early warning systems is based on the delay that the S waves have in reference to the P waves and on the interpretation of the P waves’ specific parameters. One of the most used parameters for estimating the moment magnitude of an earthquake is the characteristic period measured in the first 3 seconds of the appearance of the P wave. The typical method determines the characteristic period in the time domain, based on the velocity wave and the displacement wave. In the present work, we present a method for estimating the frequency of the characteristic period. This method includes zero padding of the P wave sequence, conversion of the extended sequence from the time domain to the frequency domain, the identification of local frequency maxima and the calculation of the weighted average of the frequency based on the identified maxima. Tests conducted on synthetic signals, as well as standard deviation evaluation tests for simultaneous recordings on several stations, reveal better performance to the usual method.

This paper considers the problem of predicting earthquakes. It uses a small amount of information to create a descriptive key that can be used as a footprint to describe an event. A frequency grid clusters events that occurred at the same time and then the algorithm averages the history of these events over preceding days, in particular the gaps when the events did not occur. The gaps are measured for the clustered events only and can be used to create a description that is quite unique. Results suggest that seismic events can in fact be traced using this key and subsequently recognised again, if the same conditions reoccur. They also suggest that force direction may be more important than magnitude, after the initial cluster selections are made. Greek and USA datasets have been looked at and the prediction accuracy can be 70% or better. The author therefore suggests that this is an interesting method that deserves attention.

To quantify damage to reinforced concrete (RC) column members after an earthquake, an engineer needs to know the maximum applied force that was generated by the earthquake. Therefore, in this work, piezoceramic transducers are used to detect the applied force on an RC column member under dynamic loading. To investigate the use of post-embedded piezoceramic sensors in detecting the force that is applied to RC columns, eight full-size RC column specimens with various failure modes are tested under specific earthquake loadings. Post-embedded piezoceramic sensors are installed at a range of depths (70-80 mm) beneath the surface of a column specimen to examine the relationship between the signals that are obtained from them and the force applied by the dynamic actuator. The signals that are generated by the post-embedded piezoceramic sensors, which correlate with the applied force, are presented. These results indicate that the post-embedded piezoceramic sensors have great potential as tools for measuring the maximum applied force on an RC column in an earthquake. Restated, signals that are obtained from post-embedded piezoceramic sensors on an RC column in an earthquake can be used to determine the applied force and corresponding damage or residual seismic capacity.

Afterthe series of earthquakes in August 1953, most of Kefalonia’s building stock totally collapsed. The buildings that emerged as a result of a collective effort are commonly referred to as «arogi» buildings, with the term arogimeaning help or assistance. In this way, merely referring to these structures is a direct mention to the circumstances under which they were constructed. The reconstruction of the building stock of the island was based in a series of building types proposed from the authorities, and proceeded replacing the richness of the architectural forms that stood before the earthquake, with austere but necessary settlements. Nevertheless, it is these buildings that constitute today’s image of the island. This study wishes to introduce us to “arogi” buildings structural system, as it was applied in Kefalonia after 1953 earthquake, with reference to recent bibliography and the recent experience of 2014 earthquake. The purpose of setting the grounds for such a research would be to highlight the effectiveness of this structural system. Moreover, to emphasize the fact that “arogi” buildings and their construction procedure incorporate Kefalonia’s recent history and have eventually produced today’s available “traditional” architecture of the island.

The assessment of rockfall risks on human activities and infrastructure is of great importance. Rock falls pose a significant risk to a) transportation infrastructure b) inhabited areas and c) Cultural Heritage sites. The paper presents a method to assess rockfall susceptibility at national scale in Greece, using a simple rating approach and GIS techniques. An extensive inventory of rockfalls for the entire country was compiled for the period between 1935 and 2019. The rockfall events that were recorded are those, which have mainly occurred as distinct rockfall episodes in natural slopes and have impacted human activities, such as roads, inhabited areas and archaeological sites. Through a detailed analysis of the recorded data, it was possible to define the factors which determine the occurrence of rockfalls. Based on this analysis, the susceptibility zoning against rockfalls at national scale was prepared, using a simple rating approach and GIS techniques. The rockfall susceptibility zoning takes into account the following parameters: (a) the slope gradient, (b) the lithology, (c) the annual rainfall intensity, (d) the earthquake intensity and (e) the active fault presence. Emphasis was given on the study of the earthquake effect as a triggering mechanism of rockfalls. Finally, the temporal and spatial frequency of the recorded events and the impact of rockfalls on infrastructure assets and human activities in Greece were evaluated.

Steel construction is used more often these days as an alternative to the R.C.C. when light weight, high strength, large-span structures with a faster erection are required. Extensive studies have been done by researchers to study the seismic performance of reinforced concrete and steel structures, both in terms of elastic and inelastic behavior. Composite construction is also a recent advancement in the building industry with similar advantages. However, no emphasis has been given to the comparison between the inelastic behavior of steel and composite structures when subjected to lateral loads. This study compares the inelastic behavior of steel and a composite frame designed to have the same plastic moment capacity for structural members. The responses, such as the formation of hinges, story drifts, story displacements, lateral stiffness, ductility, maximum strength, energy dissipated, joint accelerations, and performance points, are compared with the aid of the building analysis and design software ETABS-18. For this, response spectrum analysis, pushover analysis and nonlinear direct integration time history analysis have been performed on both frames. For design and analysis, international codes such as IS 800-2007, IS 875 (Part I, II, IV), IS 1893-2002, AISC 360 (16 &amp; 10) and FEMA 440 have been used. Part of this study also aims at comparing the response of these frames when subjected to near field and far field earthquakes. It can be concluded from the results that the post yield performance of the composite frame is superior to that of the steel frame when seismically excited.

COVID-19 Pandemic management has become the top priority of Government Institutions globally, which is justifiable seeing the high mortality of the disease. In India, Lockdowns by National, State and Local level administrations have greatly reduced the spread of the SARS COV-2 Virus. Some areas with a greater proportion of COVID-19 patients have been declared hotspots with increased restrictions on public activities through law enforcement. But quite often delay in identification of these hotspots leads to community transmission of the Virus thus aggravating the problem. A method to identify the areas which are at risk of becoming the next hotspot for the disease is the need of the hour[1]. In this Research document we will find the probable risk factors and make an appropriate scale to measure the vulnerability of an area, identified by its Postal code. To help with this a Pan India survey by the title of “Survey on General Indian population on the level of preparedness for COVID-19 pandemic” was launched and received around 1250 submissions, with the acquired data we will evaluate the risk factors and make appropriate scale to identify ‘pre-hotspots’.

In January and February 2001, El Salvador was hit by two strong earthquakes that triggered thousands of landslides, causing 1,259 fatalities and extensive damage. The analysis of aerial and SPOT-4 satellite images taken a few days after the events allowed us to map 6,491 coesismic landslides, which occurred in 14 study areas extending for about 400 km2. Four different Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) models were produced by using different covariate sets and landslide inventories, the latter containing the slope failures triggered by an extreme rainfall event of November 2009 and those induced by the earthquakes of 2001. Moreover, two validation scenarios were employed, including the 25% and 95% of the mapped landslides, respectively. The results of our experiment revealed that: (i) MARS algorithm provides reliable predictions of coesismic landslides; (ii) models calibrated with rainfall-induced landslides predict with acceptable accuracy landslides caused by deep earthquakes and distributed over vast areas; (iii) the best accuracy is achieved by models trained with both preparatory and trigger variables; (iv) a small portion of the landslides produced by an earthquake can be used to calibrate MARS predictive models that help to identify slopes where yet unreported landslides may have occurred.

Background and Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the impact of fasciotomy on mortality and morbidity in children and adults with crush-related AKI following the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. Materials and Methods: The study included individuals who had suffered crush injuries after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes and were identified as having acute kidney injury (AKI). Patients with AKI were divided into two groups based on age: those under 18 years and those over 18 years. A comparative analysis was conducted between the mortality and morbidity rates of patients who underwent fasciotomy and those who did not. Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), sepsis, and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have all been identified as contributors to morbidity. Results: The study was conducted with a total of 40 patients (21 males and 19 females) aged between four and 83 years. A total of 21 patients underwent fasciotomy and the patients underwent varying numbers of fasciotomy, ranging from zero to 11. The mortality rate was 12.5%, corresponding to five adult patients. No instances of mortality were reported in the paediatric cohort. The application of fasciotomy in instances of crush-induced AKI did not result in elevated levels of mortality in either the paediatric or adult demographic. Within the adult population, a substantial difference in the duration of dialysis was observed between individuals who underwent fasciotomy and those who did not. A statistically significant increase in the number of fasciotomy incisions was observed in patients diagnosed with sepsis compared with those without sepsis. The study found a significant positive correlation between the number of fasciotomy incisions and dialysis days. Conclusions: Neither adult nor paediatric patients with crush-induced AKI showed an increased risk of death after fasciotomy. The number of fasciotomy incisions significantly correlated with the development of sepsis. Despite experiencing delays in hospital admission for paediatric patients, the incidence of both crush syndrome and mortality rates among children remained relatively low.

It is known that the source of a tectonic earthquake in the framework of the theory of elasticity and viscoelasticity is considered as a displacement along a certain fault surface. Usually, when describing the source, the geometry of the fault surface is simplified to a flat rectangular area. The displacement vector is assumed to be constant. In this paper, we propose a model of an earthquake source in the form of a displacement with a constant vector along a stochastic surface. A number of standard assumptions were made when modeling. We take into account only the elastic properties of the medium. We consider the Earth’s crust as a half-space and assume that the medium is homogeneous and isotropic. For the mathematical description of the earthquake source, we use the classical force equivalent of displacement along the fault. This is the distribution of double pairs of forces. The field of displacements under the action of body forces is found through a combination of Mindlin nuclei of strain. The paper presents solutions for strike-slip fault. To obtain a stochastic fault surface, we propose to introduce a random deformation of a rectangular flat surface. The paper presents the results of a computational experiment comparing the levels and regions of relative deformations of the Earth’s crust in the case of displacement along a flat rupture surface and along a stochastic one. In the case of a stochastic surface, the regions of relative deformations become asymmetric. The developed model will help to indirectly take into account various mechanical properties of the Earth’s crust when modeling deformations caused by earthquakes.

An earthquake is a natural event by its general definition. This natural event is a disaster that causes significant damage, loss of life, and other economic effects that will damage the state. The possibility of predicting a natural event such as an earthquake will minimize the reasons mentioned. Data collection, data processing, and data evaluation were carried out in this study. Earthquake forecasting was performed using the data and the RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) method. The study was carried out on seismic data with a magnitude of 3.0 and above belonging to Düzce Province between 1990 and 2022. In order to increase the learning potential of the method, the b and d values of the earthquake were calculated and included in the data set, except for the earthquake magnitude. The determination of earthquakes in a specific time interval in regions of Turkey, the classification of earthquake-related seismic data using artificial neural networks, and the production of predictions for the future reveal the importance of this study.

Future climate change is expected to affect components of the hydrological cycle. However geologic factors can sometimes be more important than the climate with regarding to change hydrological processes. The Keriya River is a large glacier-fed river in the western Tibet Plateau, its upper reaches flow across active fault zones, which have experienced four medium-sized earthquakes within four months 1974. These active faults have made difficult to identify normal meltwater changes using a snow-ice melt model. Because of the seismic events, the river has experienced substantial changes in their drainage systems and complex hydrological processes. Both the Mann-Kendall trend test and a correlation analysis were applied to detect the monthly patterns of stream flows, the change points and the correlations among both summer discharge and air temperature before and after seismic events. We found significant correlations between monthly air temperature and meltwater flow in the summer June during the pre-earthquake of 1958-1974, but none in July and August in the post-earthquake of 1975-1980, and we found no correlation following the earthquake. The correlations were the inverse by losing the former and setting up the latter alternately since the multiple earthquakes. Clearly, the earthquakes and changes in the faults can greatly induce hydrological processes.

Abstract Natural disasters such as earthquakes have affected urban historical centers severely. Considering the limitations of the existing methods in conservation and preservation of these sensitive areas, and recent advances in technological devices and techniques such as GIS and 3D printers, this article aims to propose a new methodology utilizing available knowledge and resources. The authors of the present research propose an innovative, technological, and highly accurate method to assess the seismic vulnerability of historical contextures rectifying the existing obstacles and limitations. Through this methodology, the level of trial and error is substantially reduced and the output is stronger, more optimized and more conservative as compared with commonly used methods. Using high tech principles and theoretical foundations (i.e. sustainability principles) this method achieves updated analyses, practical plans, and economic optimization.

The Apennine sector formed by Sannio and Irpinia is one of the most important seismic districts in Italy, representing a good case of study due to the plenty of recorded earthquakes that have therein occurred from Roman times up to nowadays. We have merged the historical record and the new satellite techniques that allow a precise determination of ground movements, and then derived physical dimensions like strain rate. In this way, we have verified that in Irpinia the hazard of new strong shocks forty years after one of the strongest known seismic events in the district is still high. This aspect must be considered very important from many points of view, particularly for Civil Protection plans, as well as civil engineering and urban planning development.

In order to achieve the target, several activities are being undertaken, including the development of multipurpose reservoir planning for the water supply and sanitation infrastructure, irrigation, and hydropower development for the H project. To undertake this work, the main data given was rainfall data, flow data, catchment area, base population for water supply, and so on. This report presents a specifically preliminary study and design of water supply, irrigation, and hydropower development for the project, which is carried out in accordance with the scope of work given by our professor. The preliminary study and design are therefore to investigate scenarios and alternatives and prepare a document of water supply, irrigation, and hydropower infrastructures for the provision of the assignment. This report, as required in the assignment, contains project background, water sources assessment, selection of suitable hydropower potential, and irrigation sizing, design criteria, descriptions of the proposed scheme, preliminary design of water supply components. The objective of the project is to recommend and design a cost-effective water supply system, irrigation, and hydropower development to supply reliable, sufficient, and safe water from a defined water source to the H project. The specific objectives of the investigation works are: • To assess potential water source alternatives for water supply • Selecting appropriate size for the reservoir which could satisfy all water demand • Assess and select suitable irrigation development and hydropower potential. • Preliminary study and design of all components of the reservoir and appurtenant structures The scope of the project generally focuses on preliminary study and design of water supply, irrigation and hydropower development components from water sources potential and the water balance output.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention strategy that involves the continuous administration of antiretroviral drugs to HIV-negative individuals wit a substantial risk of contracting an HIV infection. The use of PrEP has shown a reduction in the risk of HIV acquisition through sexual intercourse by up to 99%. Despite its effectiveness, PrEP uptake remains low among populations at high risk of HIV infection. This highlights the need for further research in stratetegies to enhance awareness and uptake of PrEP amongst these specific populations

The intricate nature of congenital heart disease requires understanding of complex, patient-specific three-dimensional dynamic anatomy of the heart, from imaging data such as three-dimensional echocardiography for successful outcomes from surgical and interventional procedures. Conventional clinical systems use flat screens and therefore display remains two-dimensional, which undermines the full understanding of the three-dimensional dynamic data. Additionally, control of three-dimensional visualisation with two-dimensional tools is often difficult, so used only by imaging specialists. In this paper we describe a virtual reality system for immersive surgery planning using dynamic three-dimensional echocardiography, which enables fast prototyping for visualisation such as volume rendering, multi-planar reformatting, flow visualisation, and advanced interaction such as three-dimensional cropping, windowing, measurement, haptic feedback, automatic image orientation, and multi-user interactions. The available features were evaluated by imaging and non-imaging clinicians, showing that the virtual reality system can help improve understanding and communication of the three-dimensional echocardiography imaging and potentially benefit congenital heart disease treatment.

We aimed to assess the caffeine intake before and during pregnancy, compliance with caffeine recommendations during pregnancy (200 mg/day) and factors associated with higher intakes before and in first trimester of pregnancy. Caffeine consumption was collected in a Spanish cohort of pregnant women through a validated food questionnaire, before and in each trimester of gestation (T1, T2 and T3). 463 pregnant women were recruited and follow-up through pregnancy. Compliance with caffeine intake recommendations during pregnancy and quintiles of mg/day of caffeine before and in T1 of pregnancy were calculated. A multivariate logistic regression, comparing extreme quintiles of consumption (Q1 vs Q5) was used. Mean caffeine intake before pregnancy was 120.05 mg/day (SD 117.85), 42.76 mg/day (SD 63.90) at 12th GW, 42.00 mg/day (SD 59.76) at 24th GW and 39.34 mg/day (SD 50.9) at 32nd GW (p&lt;0.001). 86% of women complied with caffeine recommendations during pregnancy. At pregnancy (T1), being an active smoker was associated with Q5 &gt; 100.1 mg/day, aOR = 22.69; 95% CI 4.67- 110.26. igh diet quality, aOR = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.13- 0.68, and moderate physical activity level, aOR= 0.44; 95% CI, 0.19-1.00, were inversely associated with Q5 &gt; 100.1 mg/day. Pregnant women are mostly adhering to current caffeine intake guidelines. Higher caffeine intake at pregnancy is associated with other unhealthy habits during pregnancy.

This study aimed to evaluate the level of skill in observing teaching competency in pre-service physical education (PE) teachers and provide basic data to cultivate teaching competency. A total of 21 third-year pre-service PE teachers were selected as participants. The study derived descriptive statistics to analyze the participants’ observation skills regarding teaching competency in different class stages using evaluation results of class demonstrations by pre-service teachers. Mann–Whitney U test was conducted to verify the statistical significance of the evaluation between in-service and pre-service teachers. Compared with in-service teachers, pre-service teachers reported high agreement with intuitive teaching behaviors. However, pre-service teachers indicated low agreement with skills that required complex teaching behaviors depending on various situations. Based on theories by Schon (1983), pre-service teachers showed high “knowledge for practice” and low “knowledge in practice.” Thus, pre-service education must balance practical knowledge and theory rather than focus on theory-based education. This study provided directions for pre-service teacher education to enhance the competency of pre-service teachers for leading and analyzing classes.

A high-resolution catalog for the 2014 Ms6.5 Ludian aftershocks was constructed based on the deep learning phase-picking model (CERP) and the seismic-phase association technology (PALM). A specific training strategy, which combines the advantages of the conventional short-long window average energy ratio algorithm (STA/LTA) and AI algorithm, is employed to retrain the CERP model. The P & S phases were accurately detected and picked on continuous seismic waveforms by the retained AI model. Hypoinverse and HypoDD were utilized for precise location of 3286 events. Compared to the previous results, our new catalog exhibits superior performances in terms of location accuracy and the number of aftershock events, thereby enabling a more de-tailed depiction of the deep-seated tectonic features. According to the distribution of aftershocks, it can be inferred that, (1) the seismogenic fault of Ludian earthquake is the NW-trending Baogunao-Xiaohe Fault. (2) the Ludian aftershocks interconnected the discontinuous NW-trending Baogunao-Xiaohe Fault, and intersected with the Zhaotong-Ludian Fault. (3) It suggests that the NE-trending Zhaotong-Ludian Fault may have been intersected by the NW-trending Baogunao -Xiaohe Fault, indicating that the Baogunao-Xiaohe Fault is likely a rela-tively young Neogene fault.

This study develops a wavelet maxima-based methodology to extract anomalous signals from microwave brightness temperature (MBT) observations for seismic estimation. MBT, acquired via satellite microwave radiometry, enables subsurface characterization penetrating clouds. Five earthquake categories were defined contingent on locale (oceanic/terrestrial) and ambient traits (soil hydration, vegetal covering). Continuous wavelet transform was applied to preprocess annualized MBT readings preceding and succeeding prototypical events of each grouping, utilizing optimized wavelet functions and orders tailored to individualized contexts. Wavelet maxima graphs visually portraying signal intensity variations facilitated identification of aberrant phenomena, including pre-seismic accrual, co-seismic perturbation, and postsismic remission signatures. Casework found 10GHz horizontal-polarized MBT optimally detected signals for aquatic and predominantly humid/vegetative settings, whereas 36GHz horizontal-polarized performed best for arid, vegetated landmasses. This preliminary investigation establishes an analytical framework, albeit reliant on qualitative appraisals. Quantitative machine learning methods are warranted to statistically define selection standards and augment empirical forecasting leveraging lithospheric stress state inferences from sensitive MBT parametrization.

The application of movement-detection sensors is crucial for understanding surface movement and tectonic activities. The development of modern sensors has been instrumental in earthquake monitoring, prediction, early warning, emergency commanding and communication, search and rescue, and life detection. There are numerous sensors currently being utilized in earthquake engineering and science. It is essential to review their mechanisms and working principles thoroughly. Hence, we have attempted to review the development and application of these sensors by classifying them based on the timeline of earthquakes, physical or chemical mechanisms of sensors, and location of sensor platforms. In this study, we analyzed all available sensor platforms that have been widely used in recent years, with satellites and UAVs being among the most used. The findings of our study will be useful for future earthquake response and relief efforts, as well as research aimed at reducing earthquake disaster risks.

Up to now, many studies have been performed on particle radiations before or during earthquakes (EQs). In our previous study, with the help of piezoelectricity relationships and the elastic energy formula, the MCNPX simulation code was applied to find the amount of created atomic/ nuclear particles, the dominant interactions; and the energy of the particles for various sizes of quartz and granite blocks. In this study, using the MCNPX simulation code, we have estimated the flux of the particles (created from under-stressed granitic rocks) at different distances from the EQ hypocenter inside the fractures, filled with air, water, and CO2. It was found that inside a water-filled fracture, the particles do not show the flux far from the EQ hypocenter, but inside the gases like air and CO2 with the normal condition density, different types of particles can have a flux far from the source (more than a kilometer) and they might reach themselves to the surface in the case that the EQ hypocenter is very shallow (0- 5 km). However, for deep EQs, it seems that the most detected nuclear particles on the surface should pass via the vacuum-filled fractures and reach themselves to the surface. Moreover, it was concluded that the more density of the fracture’s filling fluid, the less distance that the particles can have a flux.

Approximately 85 million people's houses are scattered all over Indonesia, and almost all are in strong earthquake areas. In every earthquake, the houses are generally damaged or collapsed. Therefore, those houses must be strengthened to make them earthquake resistant. This paper discusses a gradual strengthening of existing houses using ferrocement bandaging. The gradual strengthening is introduced due to limited funding of the people. It also serves as an educational tool to educate people to be self-sufficient in building their earthquake-resistant houses. The first step, maybe the sleeping room shall be strengthened so that if there is an earthquake during night-time, people will be safe, and if there is an earthquake during the daytime, people can immediately run to that particular room. A global analysis is made of a sample house shaken by Palu, Central Sulawesi earthquake 2018, and West Sumatra earthquake 2009, with one room strengthened to show that the strengthened room can survive the earthquakes. Then the analysis is continued gradually to the other rooms until the masonry house is fully strengthened by ferrocement bandaging. The results show that the masonry house strengthened by ferrocement layers is earthquake resistant.

This study investigated and classified typical structures in rural village and analyzed the vulnerability of various typical types of structures. Based on the statistics of earthquake damages with magnitudes above 5 from 1996 to 2013 in China, the damage matrixes of different types of structures in rural village are obtained. And The vulnerability index and the vulnerability equation of structure are crucial to assess the earthquake losses of typical structures under different magnitudes earthquakes. According to the seismic loss of different types of structures under different earthquake magnitudes, there are possible to improve the seismic resilience of the buildings in rural village. Moreover, the regional vulnerability is analyzed by β probability distribution function, and the comprehensive seismic performance index of different types of agricultural buildings in the region is obtained. The main research is to predict the loss of different types of structures under different earthquake magnitudes in the future, and to provide technical support for different types of building in rural village reinforcement.

This article described the technology of determining earthquake epicenter with radar remote sensing on the example of Sentinel-1A/B. To determine the epicenter of the earthquake, the Earth's crust displacements were analyzed using radar remote sensing data obtained for the ascending and descending flight orbits. Coordinates of Earthquake epicenters were found according to line-of-sight displacement images via its maximum value. Displacement of the Earth's crust was obtained by processing in the GMTSAR package in the VirtualBox virtual machine of the Linux Ubuntu 16.04 operation system. Two earthquakes that occurred in 2020 were studied to determine the accuracy of finding epicenters using the ascending and descending orbits Sentinel-1A/B. These earthquakes occurred in Western Xizang, China, and Doganyol, Turkey. The maximum deviation from the officially registered epicenter coordinates was 15.38 km for Doganyol and 3.2 km for the Western Xizang earthquake. The negative displacement was 90 mm for Doganyol and 50 mm for Western Xizang.

Despite increased global interest in the impacts of natural disasters on tourism, less study executes exploring how tourism sensitivity is addressed at the destination level. Generating a link between tourism and natural disaster management is vital in places that rely heavily on tourism and are prone to natural hazards. Ranau, Sabah (Malaysia) is one of the disaster-prone tourists' destination area. Hence, this paper applies the case study of Ranau earthquake 2015 to explore tourism sensitivity towards natural disasters. A qualitative of in-depth interview is applied to acquire information needed from the Ranau tourism entrepreneurs and operators. To analyse the qualitative data, a thematic analysis is conducted. Overall findings show that tourism activity in Ranau are identified to be sensitive towards the 2015 earthquake with a significant percentage of sensitivity level on two elements. These elements are known as Source and Power. The Source element includes tourism products, size of business, development, and natural disasters management with a significant sensitivity compared to the Power element (social capital). This provides insight to the need of specific tourism system adaptation as response to the earthquake and considering the integration of natural disaster management into tourism development to enhance long term sustainability.

We identify the source of the Mw = 5.6 earthquake that hit west-central Epirus on March 21, 2020 00:49:52 UTC. We use synthetic aperture radar interferograms tied to one permanent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) station (GARD). We model the source by inverting the INSAR displacement data. The inversion model suggests a shallow source on a low-angle fault (39°) dipping towards east with a centroid depth of 8.5 km. The seismic moment deduced from our model agrees with those of the published seismic moment tensors. This geometry is compatible with the Margariti thrust fault within the collision zone between Apulia and Eurasia. We also processed new GNSS data and estimate a total convergence rate between Apulia and Eurasia of 8.9 mm yr-1 , of which shortening of the crust between the Epirus coastal GNSS stations and station PAXO in the Ionian Sea is equivalent to ~ 50% of it or 4.6 mm yr−1. A 60-km wide deformation zone takes up nearly most of the convergence between Apulia-Eurasia, trending N318°E. Its central axis runs along the southwest coast of Corfu, along the northeast coast of Paxos, heading toward the northern extremity of the Lefkada island.

The purpose of this study was to develop a reflective evaluation tool that can enhance the teaching competency of pre-service physical education teachers. A Delphi survey was conducted to modify the questions based on the evaluation tool for the teaching competency of physical education teachers, and each evaluation standard based on teaching competency was developed. The evaluation tool consisted of 46 questions for class preparation (the creation of the learning environment), the introduction (routine activities, learning goals, and task presentation), development (class strategy, observation and interaction, and the maintenance of the learning environment), and conclusion (routine activities, summary, and closure). It was designed to increase the accuracy of evaluation by developing evaluation criteria for each question. An evaluation tool including quantitative and qualitative methods for use in pre-service physical education teacher education was developed. The significance of this study was the development of an effective evaluation tool that can evaluate the core teaching behaviors in the field of physical education. This evaluation tool should be used as a learning tool that includes planning, operation, evaluation, and seeking improvement measures through reflective activities. If pre-service teacher education institutions apply this evaluation tool in their teacher training programs, it would be a great chance to learn how to develop and sustain teaching abilities and effectiveness.

Cocoa beans of the CCN-51 clone harvested in the Tumaco region (Nariño, Colombia) were fermented following four different treatments: (1) spontaneously (at room temperature for 120 h) in traditional conditions (Control); (2) traditional processing with a pre-drying (sun-dried for 24 h) treatment (PD); (3) with fermentation (for 120 h) after inoculation of a yeast starter culture (YS); and (4) including both treatments, pre-drying and yeast inoculation (PD+YS). Chemical composition, fatty acids, total polyphenol, methylxanthines (theobromine and caffeine) and lactic acid content of cocoa beans were determined. Chemical and fatty acid composition and theobromine content were not affected by the different fermentation treatment applied. When analysing total polyphenol content, YS and PD+YS treatments significantly increased the content of these compounds at the end of the fermentation process, while PD treatment decreased the caffeine content of cocoa beans. Finally, lactic acid content decreased as a consequence of both inoculation of yeast starter and mainly the pre-drying treatment. In conclusion, solar pre-drying in the open air and the inoculation of a yeast starter treatments could improve the final quality of coca beans.

BACKGROUND: Pre-marital sex is a sexual interest practiced by people who are yet to get married and has ended up being accepted specifically in western countries. Sex before marriage is sexual behavior engaged in by single people. In the past, having sex before getting married is seen as a moral dilemma that many cultures forbade and that many people regarded to be sin in many religions, although it has gained wider acceptance across the board. OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to determine the perception, practices, and factors associated with pre-marital sex, courtship, and its influences among Osun State University Undergraduates, Osogbo, Osun State. METHODOLOGY: The study was a descriptive study, and respondents were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Students of Osun State University, Osogbo main campus form the population of the study and its sample size was calculated using Leslie Kish’s formula. A total of 387 responses were validated from the survey. The instrument for data collection was a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire consisting of four sections. The data obtained were collated, examined for completion, coded, imputed, and analyzed using SPSS v21. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was between 19.19±2.17, and the majority were between 18 – 24 years. About 52% of the respondents show a positive perception of premarital sex and courtship. Also, in the practice of courtship majority (88.3%) of the respondents think those that go around together are courting and from the responses obtained and analyzed from the factors leading to pre-marital sex, the findings revealed that peer pressure (90.4%), Internet (86.7%), pornography (83.9%) and drugs (82.9%) are the leading factors which contribute to pre-marital sex among undergraduates. CONCLUSION: The study hereby recommends that Parents should as a matter of responsibility monitor and pays regular visits to their children in the universities and provide them with materials that will make them stay comfortable for them not to fall victim to peer pressure.Pre-marital sex is a practice that should be avoided by undergraduate students, though most students consider courtship as a normal practice, it is still used as a normal factor that leads them to practice pre-marital sex.

Among the plant resources in pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America, the Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is unique in being the only member of the Lamiaceae cultivated for the mericarps. Recently the crop has gained considerable attention due to its high of content omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, antioxidants, fibre and protein classifying it as a nutraceutical.

Introduction: Exams are a relatively stressful period for all students, especially undergraduate medical students. Exams bring anxiety and stress for the students. Some students experience such high stress that it hinders their academic productivity and reduces their exam performance. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of pre-exam anxiety on the academic performance of medical students. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-five final year medical students completed Westside Test Anxiety (WTA) Scale one month before their exams. Grade Point Average (GPA) of these students was noted when the results were announced. Data was processed and analyzed using SPSS v 22.0Results: The mean anxiety score on WTA scale was 3.46 ± 0.87. All students (100%) who scored ≤ 2.50 GPA were highly-extremely highly anxious. In the 2.51-3.00 GPA group, 46% were highly-extremely highly anxious, 32% were moderately anxious, and 21% had low to normal anxiety. In the 3.01-3.50 GPA group, 30% were highly-extremely highly anxious, 30% were moderately anxious, and 39% had low to normal anxiety. In the 3.51-4.00 GPA group, 29% were highly-extremely highly anxious, 23% were moderately anxious, and 47% had low to normal anxiety. The correlation coefficient between GPA and test anxiety of students was -.314 which shows inverse relationship.Conclusion: Pre-exam anxiety and stress imparts negative effects on the exam performance of final year medical students. Poor academic performance was associated with high to extremely high pre-exam anxiety while high achievers had relatively lower anxiety levels.

A divergent selection experiment on environmental sensitivity was performed in rabbits. The aim of this study was to estimate the correlated response in kits’ weight and its survival, and weight distance from birth to weaning. Weight distance was calculated as the absolute values of the differences between the individual value and the mean value of its litter. Also, relationship between probability of survival at 4 d of age and weight at birth was studied. Environmental sensitivity was measured as litter size variability. A total of 2484 kits from 127 does of the low line (selected for reducing litter size variability) and 1916 kits of 114 does of the high line (selected for increasing litter size variability) of the 12th generation were weighed. Bayesian methodology was used to estimate the correlated response to selection, and LOGISTIC procedure of SAS was used to estimate the relationship between weight and probability of survival. Both lines showed similar individual weight at birth and at weaning, and similar survival at birth and at 4 d of age. Survival at weaning was higher in the low line than in the high line (0.67 and 0.62; P= 0.93). Weight distance was higher at birth but lower at weaning in the low line (47.8 g and 54.1 g; P=0.98). Kit’s weight at birth affected its survival. In conclusion, selection for environmental sensitivity showed correlated response in kits survival and in homogeneity of litter weight at weaning.

With the rapid development of China's economy, construction industrialization has become the main development trend of China's construction industry, and the convenient, efficient, environmental protection has become the new fashion, therefore the application of prefabricated building is more and more common. Stair serves as the weak link in prefab type building, the connecting node has an important influence on its failure. In this paper, pseudo-static tests are carried out on the joints in different forms of ladder holes to study the mechanical properties of flexible hinge points filled with flexible materials, and the hysteresis curve, skeleton curve and bearing capacity of each specimen are analyzed. The test results show that the flexible hinge can give full play to its flexible characteristics to ease the stress of ladder beam, pin bolt reinforcement and ladder hole, and the bearing capacity of flexible hinge points is moderate, which can not only mitigate the inclined bracing effect under the action of small and medium earthquakes, but also ensure the stair does not fall off under the action of large earthquakes. Through the experiment comparison, the ladder hole adopts node form 2, which can give full play to the advantage of flexible material.

One of the most important problems of geotechnical engineering is the design of pile foundations. Piles are generally designed for vertical and horizontal static loads. However, it is important to design piles against dynamic loads in regions with high seismicity. This study verified a centrifuge experiment obtained from the literature with a finite element program. With the kinematic interaction analyses made for this purpose, the effect of parameters such as layered soil, groundwater, pile stiffness, and earthquake acceleration were investigated numerically. According to the results obtained, it was understood that the earthquake magnitude is the most important parameter in kinematic interaction analyses. In addition, in layered soil conditions, the fact that 75% of the pile length is in the weak soil creates the most unfavorable situation. It has been observed that pile stiffness and groundwater level also have certain effects on the kinematic interaction.

As one of the common techniques for measuring coseismic deformations, optical image correlation techniques are capable of overcoming the drawbacks of inadequate coherence and phase blurring which can occur in radar interferometry, as well as the problem of low spatial resolution in radar pixel offset tracking. However, the scales of the correlation window in optical image correlation techniques typically influence the results, the conventional SAR POT method faces a fundamental trade-off between the accuracy of matching and the preservation of details in the matching window size. This study regards co-seismic deformation as a two-dimensional vector, and develops a new post-processing workflow called VACI-OIC to reduce the dependence of shift estimation on the size of the matching window. This paper takes the coseismic deformations in both the east-west and north-south directions into account at the same time, treating them as vectors, while also considering the similarity of displacement between adjacent points on the surface. Herein, the angular continuity index of the coseismic deformation vector was proposed as a more reasonable constraint condition to fuse the deformation field results obtained by optical image correlation across different matching window. Taking the earthquake of 2021 in Maduo, China, as the study area, the deformation with the highest spatial resolution in the violent surface rupture area was determined (which could not be provided by SAR data). Compared to the results of single-scale optical correlation, the presented results were more uniform (i.e., more consistent with published results). At the same time, the proposed index also detected the strip fracture zone of the earthquake with impressive clarity.

Based on the 5.7-magnitude earthquake that stroke Songyuan (China) and 172 groups of liquefaction data collected in mainland China, the hyperbolic liquefaction discriminant formula originally proposed by Sun Rui was revised, and a new formula for the liquefaction of sand was put forward. Groups of data derived from the Bachu earthquake in Xinjiang and an earthquake that occurred in New Zealand (47 and 195 groups, respectively) were used to carry out a back-judgment test, then, the results were compared with those of the existing standard method. Overall, the results showed that the new formula for hyperbolic liquefaction discrimination compensates for the conservative liquefaction discrimination of the older formula; moreover, it has a good applicability to different intensities, groundwater levels, and the deep sand layer of the Songyuan site, reflected by a more balanced success rate. Therefore, combining the existing liquefaction discrimination methods and the research results of discrimination, it is necessary to establish a suitable regional identification method through the continuous accumulation of liquefaction data and expanding database.

Abstract: Seismic performance and loss assessments can have widely varying degrees of uncertainty. An essential issue is whether a particular assessed seismic loss or performance result has sufficient reliability to serve as the basis for risk management decisions and actions, including whether or not a code prescribed performance level is met, or if an assessed loss level is acceptable. A method is developed measuring the reliability of performance and loss assessments for individual buildings and for portfolios. Consideration is given to how well the building investigation and corresponding evaluation process have been performed, the qualifications of the person(s) doing the assessment, the thoroughness of the evaluation, and the technical validity of the assessment procedure or model. The approach characterizes the uncertainty of each component of the assessment procedure for each building in qualitative terms. The resulting reliability measure is likely to be most useful for the cases where an entity is determining whether/or not a building has acceptable life safety performance, or if a portfolio has an acceptably low risk of seismic damage loss over a given period of time. In both cases, the reliability must either be sufficient to warrant action, or serve to indicate need for improved assessment.

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

Yogyakarta City is one of the big city which is located in Java Island, Indonesia. Yogyakarta City, including study area (Pleret Sub District), are very prone to earthquake hazards, because close to several active earthquake sources. For example, Sunda Megathrust which often generates a big earthquake which can affect the study area. The Sunda Megathrust extends from north to south and west to east along the Sumatra and Java Islands. Furthermore, an active normal fault called as Opak Fault pass through right in the middle of Study area and divides the study area into east and west zone. Recently, after the devastating earthquake in 2006, the population of the study area increases significantly. As a result, the housing demand is also increasing. However, due to the absence of earthquake building code in the study area, locals tend to build improper new houses. Furthermore, in some part of the mountainous area in the study area, there are some building found in unstable slopes area. Due to this condition, the multi-hazard and risk study needs to be done in Pleret. The increasing of population and improper houses in Pleret Sub-District can lead to amplify the impact. Thus, the main objective of this study is to assess the multi-hazards and risk of earthquake and other related secondary hazards such as ground amplification, liquefaction, and coseismic landslide. The method mainly utilised the geographic information system, remote sensing and was fit up by the outcrop study. The results show that the middle part of the study area has a complex geological structure. It was indicated by a lot of unchartered faults was found in the outcrops. Furthermore, the relatively prone areas to earthquake can be determined. In term of the coseismic landslide, the prone area to the coseismic landslide is located in the east part of the study area in the middle slope of Baturagung Escarpment. The highly potential area of liquefaction is dominated in the central part of the study area. In term of building collapsed probability, the result shows that the safest house based on statistical analysis is the residential house with the building attribute of wood structure, roof cast material, distance more than 15 km from the earthquake source, and located above the Nglanggran Formation. Finally, the multi-hazard and risk analysis show that the middle part of the study area is more vulnerable than the other part of Pleret Sub-District.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate fixed risk factors associated with PWM and to estimate genetic parameters for PWM. A total of 927 birth records from a mixed population of purebred and crossbred Boer and Spanish goats born between 2016 and 2023 at the International Goat Research Center (IGRC) were used for this study. Four binary traits were studied: D0-3 (death within 3 days after birth), D4-60 (death between 4 and 60 days), D61-90 (death between 61 and 90 days), and D0-90 (death within 90 days). Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the risk factors associated with PWM traits. Bayesian threshold models and Gibbs sampling were used to estimate the genetic parameters. Birth weight, season, litter size, sex, dam age, breed, and heterosis were found to be significantly associated with at least one of the PWM traits. Heritability estimates were 0.263, 0.124, 0.080, and 0.207, for D0-3, D4-60, D61-90, and D0-90, respectively. The genetic correlations between the studied traits ranged from 0.892 (D0-3 and D0-90) to 0.999 (D0-3 and D61-90). These results suggest that PWM in goats is influenced by both non-genetic and genetic factors and can be reduced by management, genetic selection, and crossbreeding approaches.

Introduction Infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) occur more frequently after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) compared to other abdominal surgeries, and infective complications are a leading cause of postoperative morbidity following PD. Pre-operative biliary stent (PBS) placement often leads to biliary contamination, which in turn plays a significant role in postoperative infections. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of MDR contamination on short-term postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing PD and to examine the relationship between MDR bacteria, PBS, and bile contamination. Methods This is a retrospective study based on a prospectively maintained database comprising 825 consecutive patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) between January 2010 and December 2020 at our center. All procedures were conducted with a standardized resection by a dedicated group of surgeons in a specialized pancreatic surgery unit, and the patients were managed according to the same perioperative enhanced recovery protocol. Results MDR bacteria were present in 17.5% of bile cultures, exclusively within the stented group. In our multivariate analysis, the development of a major postoperative complication (MPC) was correlated with the presence of MDR bacteria in the bile (OR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.1-2.52; p = 0.02). MDR bacteria were detected early in the surgical drainage in 144 out of 825 patients (12.1%), with 72.2% having a previous biliary stent placement and 27.8% without stents (p < 0.001). In our multivariate analysis, the development of an MPC was associated with the presence of MDR bacteria in the drainage (OR=1.81, 95% CI: 1.21-2.73, p= 0.0042). Conclusions We demonstrated that MDR contamination worsens the short-term outcomes of patients undergoing PD. Specifically, when MDR bacteria are present in both the bile and drainage, there is a statistically significant increase in the incidence of major postoperative complications (MPC). Our data suggest that the majority of MDR surgical site infections stem from biliary contamination resulting from the placement of a pre-operative biliary stent (PBS).

The Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer (GPT), also known as ChatGPT, is a powerful generative AI model that can simulate human-like dialogues across a variety of domains. However, this popularity has attracted the attention of malicious actors who exploit ChatGPT to launch cyberattacks. This paper examines the tactics that adversaries use to leverage ChatGPT in a variety of cyberattacks. Attackers pose as regular users and manipulate ChatGPT’s vulnerability to malicious interactions, particularly in the context of cyber assault. The paper presents illustrative examples of cyberattacks that are possible with ChatGPT and discusses the realm of ChatGPT-fueled cybersecurity threats. The paper also investigates the extent of user awareness of the relationship between ChatGPT and cyberattacks. A survey of 253 participants was conducted, and their responses were measured on a three-point Likert scale. The results provide a comprehensive understanding of how ChatGPT can be used to improve business processes and identify areas for improvement. Over 80% of the participants agreed that cyber criminals use ChatGPT for malicious purposes. This finding underscores the importance of improving the security of this novel model. Organizations must take steps to protect their computational infrastructure. This analysis also highlights opportunities for streamlining processes, improving service quality, and increasing efficiency. Finally, the paper provides recommendations for using ChatGPT in a secure manner, outlining ways to mitigate potential cyberattacks and strengthen defenses against adversaries.

The violence against women is a theme that extrapolates health issues, since after a victim seek for a health care, there is the notification of the act [1]. In Brazil, many times, these women are first assisted by mobile urgency services (SAMU/SIATE) and, as far as we have concern, there are no other studies with specific data about these assistance. The present paper aimed to analyze SAMU/SIATE assistance to abused women. Qualitative and retrospective epidemiological study of assistance to assaulted women carried out by SIATE and SAMU Maringá/Norte Novo between 2011 and 2020. Women between 20 and 39 years old, non-pregnant, were the main victims, and 19,52% of them have used some kind of drug. The (ex)partner figured as the perpetrator in 17,35%, but there were no information about this variable in 73,75% of the records. The Qui-square test shows a mortality rate superior to 70% among the severe traumatized victims. This is one of the first studies to analyze this kind of care provided by SAMU/SIATE, and reveals some gaps in its “modus-operandi” that can limitate an extrapolation of the results to bigger spheres. More researches in mobile urgency care services, in other provinces also, are needed to propose strategies to fight against this epidemic.

The log data generated during the operation of a software system contains information about the system, and using logs for anomaly detection can detect system failures in a timely manner. Most of the existing log anomaly detection methods are specific to a particular system, have cold start problems, and are sensitive to updates in log format. In this paper, we propose a log anomaly detection method LogBD based on pre-training model and domain adaptation, which uses the pre-training model BERT to learn the semantic information of logs, and can solve the problems caused by multiple meaning words and log statement updates. An anomaly detection method LogBD based on distance to determine anomalies is constructed based on domain adaptation, using TCN networks to extract common features of different system logs and map them to the same hypersphere space. Finally, experiments are conducted on two publicly available datasets to evaluate the method, and the experimental results show that the method can better solve the log instability problem and has some improvement in the cross-system log anomaly detection effect.

Lymphatic filariasis (LF), also commonly known as elephantiasis, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by filarial parasites. The disease is transmitted by a bite from infected mosquitoes. The bites of these infected mosquitoes deposit filarial parasites, Wuchereria or Brugia whose predilection site is the lymphatic system. The damage to the lymph system causes swelling in the legs, arms, and genitalia. A mapping survey conducted between 2003 and 2010 determined LF that LF was endemic in Zambia in 96 out of 116 districts. Elimination of LF is known to be possible by stopping the spread of the infection through large-scale preventive chemotherapy. Therefore, mass drug administration (MDA) with diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) (6 mg/kg) and Albendazole (400 mg) for Zambia has been conducted and implemented in all endemic districts with five effective rounds. Post-MDA pre-transmission assessment survey (pre-TAS) was conducted between 2021 and 2022 in 80 districts to determine the LF prevalence rate. We conducted a cross-sectional seroprevalence study involving 600 participants in each Evaluation Unit (EU) or each district. The study sites (sentinel and spot-check sites) were the districts that were the Implementation Unites (IUs) where MDA, preventive chemotherapy against LF was conducted. These included 80 districts from the 9 provinces. A total of 47,235 people from sentinel and spot-check locations were tested. Of these, valid tests were 47,052 of which 27,762 (59%) were females and 19,290 (41%) were males. The survey revealed in the 79/80 endemic district a prevalence of Wb anti-gens of 0.14% and 0.0% prevalence of microfilariae. All the surveyed districts had an optimum prevalence of less than 2 percent, except for Chibombo district. The majority of participants that tested positive for Wb Ag were those that had 2, 3, and 4 rounds of MDA. Surprisingly, individuals that had 1 round of MDA were not found to have circulating antigens of Wb. The study showed that all the surveyed districts except for Chibombo, passed Pre-TAS. This further implies that there is a need to conduct a TAS in these districts in order to decide whether to stop MDA or not. Keywords: Lymphatic Filariasis; pre-TAS; Prevalence; Antigenaemia; Microfilariae; Zambia

Wild germplasm can be classified as the raw material essential for crop improvement. Introgression of wild germplasm is normally used in breeding to increase crop quality or resilience to evolving biotic and abiotic threats. Here, we explore the potential of introgressing Vaccinium elliottii into commercial blueberry germplasm. Vaccinium elliottii is a wild diploid blueberry species endemic to the southeastern United States that possesses highly desirable and economically important traits for blueberry breeding such as: short bloom to ripe period, adaptation to upland sandy soils, disease resistance, firmness, and pleasant flavor. To examine the potential of hybridization, we evaluated populations of interspecific hybrids across multiples stages of breeding (i.e., F1, F2, and backcrosses) in two crop seasons. We used our extensive pedigree data to generate breeding values for pre-breeding blueberry hybrid populations. Hybrid performance was evaluated considering fitness (i.e., plant vigor and plant height) in addition to evaluating six fruit-quality and marketable-related traits (i.e., size, firmness, acidity, soluble solids, weight, and yield). Overall, F2 and backcrosses rapidly achieved market thresholds, presenting values not significantly different from commercial blueberry germplasm. Our results confirmed the potential of exploiting the high genetic variability contained in V. elliotii for interspecific hybridization. Additionally, we developed germplasm resources that can be further evaluated and utilized in the breeding process, advancing selections for fruit quality and environmental adaptation.

Background: The world-wide rate of obesity is increasing continuously, representing a serious medical threat since it is associated with a variety of diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and numerous cancers. Sophora japonica is used as a traditional herb for medicinal purposes in eastern Asia. However, the anti-obesity effects of S. japonica fruit have not been explored. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis by an ethanol extract of S. japonica fruit (EESF) in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes. Methods: MTT assay, Oil Red O staining, and Triglyceride contents were used to investigate lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells to clarify adipocyte differentiation. The expression levels of various molecular signals associated with adipogenesis and lipogenesis were examined by western blot analysis. Results: Our results demonstrate that EESF suppressed the terminal differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by a decrease in lipid droplet number and lipid content through Oil Red O staining. EESF significantly reduced the accumulation of cellular triglyceride, which was associated with a significant inhibition of the levels of pro-adipogenic transcription factors, downregulated the expression levels of adipocyte-specific proteins. Furthermore, EESF treatment effectively increased the phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC. Conclusions: These results together indicate that EESF has significant effects on the inhibition of adipogenesis and acts by stimulating the AMPK signaling pathway. Further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds in S. japonica.

Inspired by the work of S. D. Odintsov and V. K. Oikonomou, Phys. Rev. D 92, 024016 (2015) [1], the present study reports a reconstruction scheme for f (R) gravity with the scale factor a(t) µ (t _* - t) _c²²describing the pre-bounce ekpyrotic contraction, where t is the big crunch time. The reconstructed f (R) is used to derive expressions for density and pressure contributions and the equation of state parameter resulting from this reconstruction is found to behave like "quintom". It has also been observed that the reconstructed f (R) has satisfied a sufficient condition for a realistic model. In the subsequent phase the reconstructed f (R) is applied to the model of chameleon scalar field and the scalar field f and the potential V(f) are tested for quasi-exponential ex pansion. It has been observed that although the reconstructed f (R) satisfies one of the sufficient conditions for realistic model, the quasi-exponential expansion is not available due to this reconstruction. Finally, the consequences pre-bounce ekpyrotic inflation i n f (R) gravity are compared to the background solution for f (R) matter bounce.

Objective. To describe patient satisfaction with pre-hospital emergency knowledge and determine if patients and professionals share a common vision on the satisfaction predictors. Methods. A qualitative study conducted in two phases. First, a systematic review following the PRISMA protocol was carried out searching publications between January 2000 and July 2016 in Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane. Second, three focus groups involving professionals (advisers and healthcare providers) and a total of 79 semi-structured interviews involving patients were conducted to obtain information about what dimensions of care were a priority for patients. Results. Thirty-three relevant studies were identified. A majority conducted in Europe using questionnaires. They pointed out a very high level of satisfaction of callers and patients. Delay with the assistance and the ability for resolution of the case are the elements that overlap in fostering satisfaction. The published studies neither reviewed the overall care process nor related the measurement of the real time in responding to an emergency with the satisfaction. The patients and professionals concurred in their assessments about the most relevant elements for patient satisfaction, although safety was not a predictive factor for patients. Response capacity and perceived capacity for resolving the situation were crucial factors for satisfaction. This qualitative approach yielded assistance targets to be improved. Conclusions. Published studies have assessed similar dimensions of satisfaction. Furthermore, despite the fact that few explanations may be given due to the no face to face attention, taking into account the patient’s emotional needs or maintaining contact with the patient until the emergency services arrive are high predictors of the satisfaction.

In this study, we define screening maps for Italy that classify sites based on their potential for triggering landslides. To this end, we analyze seismic hazard maps and hazard disaggregation results on a national scale considering four spectral periods (0.01s, 0.2s, 0.5s, and 1.0s) and three return periods (475, 975, and 2475 years). First, joint distributions of magnitude (M) and distance (R) from hazard disaggregation are analyzed by means of an innovative approach based on image processing techniques to find all modal scenarios contributing to the hazard. In order to obtain the M-R scenarios controlling the triggering of earthquake-induced landslides at any computation node, mean and modal M-R pairs are compared to empirical curves defining the M-R bounds associated with landslide triggering. Three types of landslides are considered (i.e., disrupted slides and falls, coherent slides, and lateral spreads and flows). As a result, screening maps for all of Italy showing the potential for triggering landslides based on the level of seismic hazard are obtained. The maps and the related data are freely accessible at the following web address: https://distav.unige.it/rsni/slideq.php.

Coseismic landslides pose significant threats, causing widespread destruction of buildings, roads, pipelines, and leading to numerous casualties. In recent years, the frequency of earthquakes has increased, prompting a growing interest in regional-scale assessment techniques for coseismic landslides. The infinite slope model proposed by Newmark is widely used to evaluate coseismic landslide hazard. However, the infinite slope model fails to reflect the impact of rock mass structure on the stability of slopes. This paper proposes a novel approach for mapping the hazards of coseismic landslides by considering the roughness of the potential slide surfaces in the inner slope. The proposed method is validated using data from the 2013 Lushan earthquake. The datasets, including geological units, peak ground acceleration (PGA), and high-resolution digital elevation models of topography, are rasterized at a grid spacing of 30 meters. They are then combined within an infinite slope model based on Newmark permanent-deformation analysis, enabling the estimation of coseismic landslide displacement in each grid area resulting from the Lushan earthquake. The modeled displacements are compared with the inventory of landslides triggered by the Lushan earthquake, allowing the derivation of a confidence level function that relates predicted displacement to the spatial variation of coseismic landslides. Ultimately, a hazard map of coseismic landslides is generated based on the established confidence level function. This map serves as a valuable tool for predicting the hazard zone of seismic regions and offers essential insights for decision-making related to infrastructure development and post-earthquake construction.

Recent scholarship highlights the significant environmental impact of the expanding hydraulic fracturing industry, necessitating up-to-date, comprehensive, national-scale assessments. Addressing this gap, this literature review provides a thorough analysis of the contamination and induced seismicity associated with shale-gas hydraulic fracturing in the United States. Employing systematic reviews of literature and federal reports up until July 2023, this study reveals multiple areas of concern. Notably, water and soil contamination, seismic activity, and air pollution are identified as significant challenges linked to shale gas extraction. However, ongoing studies are actively exploring remediation strategies, including advancements in monitoring and treatment technologies, aimed at mitigating the impact of contamination. These findings underscore the need for stringent regulations, continuous research, and effective management practices. This work emphasizes the importance of a collaborative approach that leverages field studies, experimental investigations, and computational advancements to ensure the responsible development of shale gas resources.

Our research aims to address the urgent need for retrofitting measures to enhance the resilience of damaged coupling beams in real-life scenarios. We conducted a series of tests on scaled-down prototype coupling beams, carefully adhering to similarity theory requirements to ensure accurate representation. The test results showed that the chord rotation capacities of different specimens with the same diagonal bundle varied significantly due to the difference in the confinement levels. The specimens with lower level of confinement were found to have less displacement capacity. When the specimens were strengthened by wrapping with GFRP after damage, it was observed that the increase in confinement level significantly increased the chord rotation capacities of all specimens. In addition, in the tests before the strengthening, the elongation behavior of the specimens is observed until the damage development reaches approximately 2% chord rotation. With the in-crease in chord rotation, the elongation behavior of the specimens stops with increasing damage and then shortening behavior is observed. After retrofitting, it was observed that the axial elongation continued in a limited manner depending on the location and size of the concrete separated from the beam core in the case of collapse before strengthening, and then the beam showed a shortening behavior predominantly. After strengthening studies, our findings contribute valuable insights into the behavior and performance of damaged coupling beams, emphasizing the potential of urgent GFRP wrapping as a viable solution to enhance the seismic resilience of middle- and high-class buildings with structural walls after seismic events.

In general, the stone pagoda structures with discontinuous surfaces are vulnerable to lateral forces and are severely damaged by earthquakes. After the Gyeongju earthquake in 2016 and the Pohang earthquake in 2017, the earthquakes damaged numerous stone pagoda structures due to slippage, rotation and the separation of stacked stone. To evaluate seismic resistance of masonry stone pagoda structure, we analyzed the seismic behavior of stone pagoda structure using shaking table test. Shaking frequency, permanent displacement, maximum acceleration, rocking, and sliding were assessed. Responses to simulations of the Bingol, Gyeongju, and Pohang earthquakes based on Korean seismic design standard (KDS 41 17 00) were analyzed for return periods of 1,000 and 2,400 years. We found that the type of stylobate affected the seismic resistance of stone pagoda structure. When the stylobates were stiff, seismic energy was transferred from lower to upper regions of the stone pagoda, which mainly resulted in deformation of the upper region. When the stylobates were weak, earthquake energy was absorbed in the lower regions; this was associated with large stylobate deformations. The lower part of tower body was mainly affected by rocking, because the structural members were slender. The higher part of the stone pagoda was mainly affected by sliding, because the load and contact area decreased with height.

In this study, a tuned mass damper is proposed as a seismic acceleration mitigating technique of an electrical cabinet inside the nuclear power plant. In order to know the mitigation performance, the electrical cabinet and the tuned mass damper were modeled using SAP2000. The sine sweep wave was used to confirm the vibration characteristics of the cabinet over a wide frequency range, and the several various earthquakes were applied to the cabinet to verify the control performance of the tuned mass damper. After analyzing the numerical results, it is summarized that the application of the proposed technique can reduce the acceleration response of the cabinet.

Soil-structure interaction (SSI) could affect the seismic response of structures. Since liquid storage tanks are vital structures and must continue their operation under severe earthquakes, their seismic behavior should be studied. Accordingly, the seismic response of liquid storage tanks founded on half space soil is scrutinized under different earthquake ground motions. To better comparison, the six considered ground motions are classified based on their pulse like characteristics, into two groups, named far and near fault ground motions. To model the liquid storage tanks, the simplified mass-spring model is used and the liquid is modeled as two lumped masses known as sloshing and impulsive, and the interaction of fluid and structure is considered using two coupled springs and dashpots. The SSI effect, also, is considered using a coupled spring and dashpot. Besides, four types of soils are used to consider wide variety of soil properties. To this end, after deriving the equations of motion, the MATLAB programming is employed to obtain the time history responses. Results show that although the SSI effect leads to decrease the impulsive displacement, overturning moment and normalized base shear, the sloshing (or convective) displacement is not affected by such effects due to its long period.

The mechanical pre-treatment constitutes an unavoidable pre-step prior to biofuels conversion. As the cost of this step is often underestimated, recently researchers have striven to identify and characterize the mechanical pre-treatment effects in terms of post-treatment physical characterization, derived improvement of enzymatic digestibility, and output yields. The status of existing mechanical pre-treatment techniques is reviewed by substrate’s typology for lignocellulose biomass, focusing on comminution techniques. Emphasis has been dedicated to the particle size achieved after treatment, crystallinity breakage and eventual inhibitory phenomena deriving from the application of particle size reduction, which are analysed and discussed.

Screening of pollen traits in diploid wild potatoes (Solanum sect. Petota, Solanaceae) is desirable to develop heat-tolerant potato (S. tuberosum) cultivars. To accomplish this goal requires exploring potato genetic resources that are conserved in genebanks. The goal of this study was to assess pollen viability and 2n pollen production of the diploid potato wild relatives under heat stress condition. We assessed pollen viability and size of nine potato accessions conserved at the Embrapa Potato Gene Bank, including S. chacoense (BRA 00167447-2, BRA 00167017-3, BRA 00167023-1, BRA 00167028-0), S. commersonii (BRA00167007-4, BRA00167420-9, BRA00183760-8), and S. malmeanum (BRA 00183755-8), along with a control accession from the cultivated species S. tuberosum (BRA 00167251-8). The plant accessions were cultivated in different growth chambers, simulating both control temperature (ranging from 14 to 27°C) and supraoptimal temperature conditions (ranging from 24 to 34°C). At heat stress, the accessions BRA 00167251-8 did not bloom, and BRA 00167023-1 did not produce pollen. The remaining accessions did not exhibit a significant reduction in pollen viability as the temperature increased. Pollen viability at the control temperature had the lowest value in BRA-00167420-9 (S. commersonii) with 68.5% and the highest in BRA 00183755-8 (S. malmeanum) with 100%. At the supraoptimal temperature the lowest value was in BRA 00167420-9 (S. commersonii) with 54.5% and the highest in BRA 00183755-8 (S. malmeanum). The average of pollen size was 20 μm in all wild potato genotypes, and the increase of temperature did not lead to 2n pollen production. Estimated Genotypic Coefficient of Variation (GCV) was lower than Phenotypic Coefficient of Variation (PCV) for pollen viability. The observed heritability values ranged from 58.82% in BRA00167007-4 to 91.32% in BRA 00183755-8. Our results highlight the genetic variability available in wild potato germplasm concerning pollen viability under heat stress. Furthermore, these first insights offer valuable guidance for ongoing and future endeavors in diploid potato breeding.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) within the exosomes are short non-coding RNAs that are associated with many diseases including cancers and are crucial players in regulating gene expression and regula-tion. Owing to their potential role as emerging biomarkers, efficient isolation, and quantification methods of miRNA from the exosomes in the cell’s supernatant are complicated and challenging. The quantitative PCR method is the gold standard for miRNA identification and estimation. Nucleic acid-based assays are expensive, labour-intensive, and require expertise. In this work, we demon-strated an aptamer-based magnetic separation of the exosomes, and quantification of the miRNA using a fluorescence switching assay. The fluorescence assay relies on the fluorescence of the fluorophore labelled cDNA quenched by carbon nanomaterials coated on magnetic beads (OFF state). When the target miRNA210 is introduced to the system, the cDNA detaches from the quenching surface. As a result, the fluorescence intensity increases (ON state) with increasing miRNA concentration within the dynamic range of 0-100 nM. This method can detect miR210 as low as 5 pM. This method does not exhibit any cross-reactivity with other closely related miRNAs. The method was validated by spiking miRNA with the standard RT-PCR method using SYBR green as a fluorescent probe. This method can be used for the minimally invasive detection of cancer biomarkers in breast cancer patients.

Tixagevimab/cilgavimab (TIXA/CILGA) was introduced in early 2022 as a promising new drug for pre-exposure prophylaxis against COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TIXA/CILGA in a Slovenian national cohort of kidney transplant recipients as pre-exposure prophylaxis in the Omicron era. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic data were collected from electronic and paper medical rec-ords. Of the 106 patients who received TIXA/CILGA, 6 patients (5.7%) subsequently acquired SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection. The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was only slightly lower compared with patients who did not receive TIXA/CILGA (7.0%). All patients who re-ceived TIXA/CILGA had a mild disease course, whereas 20% of patients who did not receive TIXA/CILGA required hospitalization and two patients died. Adverse effects most likely related to TIXA/CILGA occurred in 12% of patients, one of whom experienced deep vein thrombosis. None of the patients suffered acute myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular insult. Overall, the benefit of added protection for kidney transplant patients appears to outweigh the potential risk of adverse events and provide additional protection against severe COVID-19 protection.

Proposed in 1889 by Svante Arrhenius, the Arrhenius equation is an important result in physical chemistry which aims to find the relationship between temperature and reaction rates. It is also an essential equation for analytic chemistry which helps to determine the energy barrier for a given reaction. In this article, we will go through a detailed derivation of the exponential factor in the Arrhenius Equation based on the Boltzmann distribution of particle energy probability. Then, we will attempt to model the pre-exponential factor in accordance with the principles of collision theory for bi-molecular reaction with gaseous reactants. Understanding the basic principles of chemical reaction provides valuable tools to analyze complex reaction mechanisms in the perspective of optimizing existing industrial processes.

Dynamic Realistic Failure Process Analysis (DRFPA) is a numerical software based on FEM it is firstly validated by comparing with the experimental test. Such validation is carried out under two consistent concrete specimens under uniaxial compression. After validation, DRFPA is used to study the influence of two parallel pre-existing crack inclination angles on the fracture of concrete under dynamic loads. The evolution of wing cracks and secondary cracks is investigated by observing the initiation, coalescence, and propagation of them. Meanwhile, the relationship between failure mode and inclination angles is discussed via analyzing the acoustic emission events. Finally, it is concluded the relationship between inclination angles of pre-cracks and performance/stability of concrete structure.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE—Atherosclerotic plaque instability and rupture in patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) is a leading cause of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). This could be mainly evidenced in patients with pre-diabetes. Indeed, the altered glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance could cause over-inflammation of atherosclerotic plaque, favoring its conversion to unstable phenotype with rupture and MACE. Notably, the metformin therapy reducing the metabolic distress and the inflammatory burden, could lead to reduction of MACE in ACAS patients with pre-diabetes. In this setting, microRNAs (miRs) could be used as molecular biomarkers of atherosclerosis progression, plaque rupture and worse prognosis in normoglycemics (NG) vs. pre-diabetics metformin users (PDMU) vs. pre-diabetics non metformin users (PDNMU). However, the aim of our study was to investigate a wide miRNA panel in peripheral blood exosomes from patients with ACAS divided in NG vs. PDMU vs. PDNMU, and to associate the circulating miRNA expression profiles with MACE at 2 years of follow-up after endarterectomy. METHODS—The study included 234 patients with ACAS divided in NG (n 125), PDNMU (n 73) and PDMU (n 36). The miRs’ expression profiles of circulating exosomes were determined at baseline and at 2 years of follow-up by Affymetrix microarrays from plasma samples of the patients from any study cohort. Then we collected and analyzed MACE at 2 years of follow-up in NG vs. PDMU vs. PDNMU. RESULTS—prediabetics vs. NG had over-inflammation (p<0.05) and over expressed miR 24 and miR 27 at baseline. At 2 years of follow-up PDNMU vs. NG, PDMU vs. NG and PDNMU vs. PDMU over-expressed inflammatory markers and miR 24, miR 27, miR 100, miR 126 and miR 133 (p<0.05). Finally, at follow-up end we observed a significant difference about MACE comparing PDNMU vs. NG (n 27 (36.9%) vs. n 8 (6.4%); p<0.05), PDNMU vs. PDMU (n 27 (36.9%) vs. n 6 (16.6%); p <0.05), and PDMU vs. NG (n 6 (16.6%) vs. n 8 (6.4%); p<0.05). Admission glucose values (HR 1.020, CI 95% [1.001-1.038], p 0.029), atheromatous carotid plaque (HR 5.373, CI 95% [1.251-11.079], p 0.024), and miR 24 (HR 3.842, CI 95% [1.768-19.222], p 0.011) predicted MACE at 2 years of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS—Specific circulating miRs could be over-expressed in pre-diabetics and specifically in PDNMU vs. PDMU after endarterectomy. MiR24, hyperglycemia and atheromatous plaque could predict MACE at 2 years of follow-up.

Ionic liquids have been recognised as interesting solvents applicable in the efficient lignocellulosic biomass valorisation, especially in the biomass fractionation into individual polymeric components or direct hydrolysis some of biomass fractions. Considering the chemical character of ionic liquids, two different approaches, paved the way for a fractionation of biomass. The first strategy integrated a pre-treatment, hydrolysis and conversion of biomass through the employment of hydrogen-bond acidic 1-ethyl-3-methyimidazolim hydrogen sulfate ionic liquid. The second one relied on the use of a three-step fractionation process with hydrogen-bond basic 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate to produce high purity cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin fractions. The proposed approaches were scrutinised for wheat straw and eucalyptus residues. Those different biomasses allowed understanding that enzymatic hydrolysis yields are dependent on the crystallinity of pre-treated biomass. The use of acetate based ionic liquid allowed to change crystalline cellulose I to cellulose II and consequently enhanced glucan to glucose yield to 93.14.1 mol% and 82.91.2 mol% for wheat straw and eucalyptus, respectively. Whereas for hydrogen sulfate ionic liquid, the same enzymatic hydrolysis yields were 61.6  0.2 mol% for wheat straw and only 7.90.3 mol% for eucalyptus residues. These results demonstrate the importance of either ionic liquid character or biomass type on the efficient biomass processing.

Memphis aquifer is the primary drinking water source in Shelby County (Tennessee, USA) and supplies industrial, commercial, and residential water. Memphis aquifer is separated from the Shallow aquifer by a clayey layer known as Upper Claiborne Confining Unit (UCCU). All of the production wells in the Memphis area are screened in the Memphis aquifer or even deeper in the Fort Pillow aquifer. Traditionally, it was assumed that the UCCU could fully protect the Memphis aquifer from the contaminated Shallow aquifer groundwater. However, recent studies show that at some locations the UCCU is thin or absent which possibly leads to the contribution of Shallow aquifer to the Memphis aquifer. Accurately locating the breaches demands expensive and difficult geological or geochemical investigations, especially within an urban area. Hence, a pre-field investigation to identify the locations where the presence of breaches is likely can significantly reduce the cost of field investigations and improve the their results. In this study, to identify the locations where the presence of breaches in the UCCU is likely we use three different analyses: (1) pilot point calibration (PPC), (2) velocity and flow budget (VFB), and (3) particle tracking (PT) to post-process the developed groundwater results. These pre-field numerical investigations provide relevant and defensible explanations for groundwater flow anomalies in an aquifer system for informed decision-making and future field investigations. In this study, we identify five specific zones within the broad study area which are reasonable candidates for the future field investigations. Finally, we test the results of each analysis against other evidence for breaches to demonstrate that the results of the numerical analyses are reliable and supported by previous studies.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on-board the second Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) completed its sensor level testing in February 2018. The JPSS-2 (J2) mission is scheduled to launch in 2022, and will be very similar to its two predecessor missions, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) mission, launched on 28 October 2011, and JPSS-1 (renamed NOAA-20) launched on 18 November 2017. VIIRS instrument has 22 spectral bands covering the spectrum between 0.4 and 12.6 mircron: 14 reflective solar bands (RSB), 7 thermal emissive bands (TEB), and one day-night band (DNB). It is a cross-track scanning radiometer capable of providing global measurements through observations at two spatial resolutions, 375 m and 750 m at nadir for the imaging bands and moderate bands, respectively. This paper will provide an overview of J2 VIIRS characterization methodologies and calibration performance during the pre-launch testing phases performed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) VIIRS Characterization Support Team (VCST) to evaluate the at-launch baseline radiometric performance and generate the parameters needed to populate the sensor data record (SDR) Look-Up-Tables (LUTs). Key sensor performance metrics include the signal to noise ratio (SNR), radiance dynamic range, reflective and emissive bands calibration performance, polarization sensitivity, spectral performance, response versus scan-angle (RVS), and scattered light response. A set of performance metrics generated during the pre-launch testing program will be compared to both the SNPP and JPSS-1 VIIRS sensors.

Global food security for the increasing world population not only requires increased sustainable production of food but a significant reduction in pre- and post-harvest waste. The timing of when a fruit is harvested is critical for reducing waste along the supply chain and increasing fruit quality for consumers. The early in field assessment of fruit ripeness and prediction of the harvest date and yield by non-destructive technologies have the potential to revolutionize farming practices and enable the consumer to eat the tastiest and freshest fruit possible. A variety of non-destructive techniques have been applied to estimate the ripeness or maturity but not all of them are applicable for in situ (field or glasshouse) assessment. This review focuses on the non-destructive methods which are promising, or have already been, applied to the pre-harvest in field measurement including colorimetry, visible imaging, spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging. Machine learning and regression models used in assessing ripeness are also discussed.

Two strongly curved areas of the Carpathians in Romania are earthquake-prone: Vrancea - in the South-Eastern Carpathians, and Danubian – in the western edge of the Southern Carpathians. By far the highest seismicity episode in 2023 was recorded in the Southern Carpathians, near Targu Jiu city, of more than 4000 earthquakes. A first ML 5.2 mainshock was recorded on 13 February, followed by a second one, ML 5.7, on 14 February. Our purpose is to provide a first analysis of this sequence in order to explain its extent and unusual development, in time. The possible role of fluids in the middle crust, is discussed in connection with the rather unusual character of the space-time distribution of aftershocks. A large and high-quality dataset is provided by the dense array of seismic stations which has been gradually improved by adding new stations in the epicentral area. The thorough revision of the phase picking and location reveals a few interesting and intriguing features of seismicity that still remain worthy to be further investigated. The database built within this paper provides excellent information not only for Targu Jiu area, but for any other investigation in intra-continental regions characterized by diffuse and sporadic seismic activity.

High seismic activity in the Himalayas and the increasing urbanization of its surrounding areas in the northern Indian region pose significant threats to both lives and properties. To mitigate the risk of seismic events, an earthquake early warning system can be used in the region. This system would be particularly beneficial to cities and towns in the mountainous and foothill regions that are located near earthquake sources. The government and the science and engineering community have re-sponded to this call by establishing the Uttarakhand State Earthquake Early Warning System (UEEWS). The system became fully operational on August 4, 2021, after being launched by the government of Uttarakhand. The UEEWS includes 170 accelerometers in the seismogenic part of the Uttarakhand region of the Himalayas. Ground motion data is transmitted to a central server through a dedicated private telecommunication network 24 hours a day, seven days a week.The system is designed to issue warnings for moderate to high-magnitude earthquakes via a mobile application installed on users' devices and sirens installed in government-owned public buildings. The UEEWS has successfully issued alerts for light earthquakes that occurred in the instrumented region and warnings for moderate earthquakes that occurred in the vicinity of the instrumented area. This paper provides an overview of the design of the UEEWS, details of the instrumentation, adaptation of attributes and their relation to earthquake parameters, the operational flow of the system, and information about the dissemination of warnings

Post-earthquake fire is considered as a catastrophic secondary disaster to personal and property safety. In this article, an evacuation assessment of a complex rail transit station under the post-earthquake fire for sustainable buildings was conducted from the internal environment and external rescue based on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Fire Dynamic Simulation (FDS). The internal environment evacuation assessment simulation experiments were conducted in six hypothetical high-risk scenarios. Besides, the external rescue assessment was based on investigation of the route and the rescue time required during different periods of holidays and workdays. The results show that: (1) The influence caused by different size of fire area in the power distribution room is smaller than those in the train at the platform floor. (2) In the case of fire scenarios with the same fire area but different fire locations, the impact on temperature is greater than that on CO concentration in power distribution room. (3) It shows slight differences between single-floor fire and double-floor fire on evacuation of small area fire in power distribu-tion room. Meanwhile, optimized design recommendations are proposed to reduce the risk of emergency evacuation in both internal and external environments of rail transit stations for sustainable future buildings.

For earthquakes (M4.0) occurring along and arond the East Anatolian fault zone and the the Dead Sea fault zone between January 2002 and December 2022, we analyzed the correlation between the Earth's rotation and the earthquake occurrence before the Mw7.8 Gaziantep,Turkey earthquake occurring on 6 February 2023. We statistically evaluate the Earth's rotationally dependent seismicity. The results were judged by the P-value. There was a clear downward trend in the P-values from early 2020 to late 2022 in the study region. Starting in early 2021, the P-value drops below 0.1%, corresponding significant correlation between the Earth's rotation and the earthquake occurrence . We also calculated the spatial distribution of the P-values and obtained a result showing a low P-value area in the vicinity of the northeastern end of the aftershock zone. Although the stress caused by the Earth's rotation is very weak, when the focal medium is loaded to the critical state to release a large earthquake, the stress due to the Earth's rotation could control the earthauqke occurrence. Therefore, the lower P-values obtained in this study indicates the Earth's rotation-related seismicity prior to the Mw 7.8 Turkey earthquake and could be considered as its precursor.

Evidence regarding the effect of psychological factors and evacuation on cardiovascular disease occurrence after large-scale disasters is limited. This prospective study followed up a total of 37,810 Japanese men and women aged 30–89 years from the Fukushima Prefecture with no history of stroke or heart disease at baseline (2012), until 2017. This period included 3000 cardiovascular events recorded through questionnaires and death certificates. The participants’ psychological distress, trauma reaction, and evacuation status were defined, and divided into four groups based on combinations of psychological factors and evacuation status. We calculated the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for only psychological, only evacuation, or both of them compared with neither using Cox proportional hazard models. Psychological factors along with evacuation resulted in approximately 5% to 25% higher magnitude of stroke and heart disease risk than psychological factors only among men. Compared to neither, the multivariable hazard ratios of those with both psychological distress and evacuation were 1.75 for stroke and 1.49 for heart disease, and those of both trauma reaction and evacuation were 2.01 and 1.57, respectively, among men. Evacuation combined with psychological factors increased the risk of stroke and heart disease risks especially in men after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Hypertensive diseases of pregnancy (HDP) represent a global clinical challenge, affecting 5-10% of women and leading to complications for both maternal well-being and fetal development. At the heart of these complications is endothelial dysfunction, with oxidative stress emerging as a pivotal causative factor. The reduction in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability is a vital indicator of this dysfunction, culminating in blood pressure dysregulation. In the therapeutic context, although antihypertensive medications are commonly used, they come with inherent concerns related to maternal-fetal safety, and a percentage of women do not respond to these therapies. Therefore, alternative strategies that directly address the pathophysiology of HDP are required. This article focuses on the potential of the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway, abundantly present in dark leafy greens and beetroot, as an alternative approach to treating HDP. The objective of this review is to discuss the prospective antioxidant role of nitrate. We hope our discussion paves the way for using nitrate to improve endothelial dysfunction and control oxidative stress, offering a potential therapy for managing HDP.

The UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 Report 2022 is about ensuring access to clean and affordable energy, which is key to the development of agriculture, business, communications, education, healthcare, and transportation. The lack of access to energy hinders economic and human development. Nevertheless, the current pace of progress is insufficient to achieve Goal 7 by 2030. Huge disparities in access to modern sustainable energy persist. Rising commodity, energy and shipping prices have increased the cost of producing and transporting solar photovoltaics modules, wind turbines and biofuels worldwide, adding uncertainty to a development trajectory that is already far below Goal 7 ambitions. Achieving energy and climate goals will require continued policy support and a massive mobilization of public and private capital for clean and renewable energy such as methane from biomass. An important factor in improving methane yield from biomass waste is pre-treatment of the biomass prior to anaerobic digestion. Size reduction of lignocellulose biomass is important for changing and increasing digestibility thus increasing methane yield. A Hollander beater was used as the mechanical pre-treatment machine throughout this study. Results indicate that methane yield is directly proportional to feedstock/Inoculum (F/I) ratio as higher F/I ratio led to higher methane yield. It was observed at an F/I ratio of 0.5 that 5 minutes pre-treatment time produced highest methane yield, while the lowest methane yield was observed at an F/I ratio of 0.2 with 1 minute of pre-treatment time. Methane yield decreased by 30% from 140 mL gTS-1 at F/I ratio 0.5 with 5 minutes pre-treatment time to 98 mL gTS-1 at F/I 0.2 with 5 minutes pre-treatment time. The optimum methane yield was attained at high F/I ratio allowing sufficient nutrient essential for complete degradation of biomass. Overall, this research shows the Hollander beater is not efficient in optimizing methane yield for cardboard.

In this paper, the extraction of essential oil (EO) from thyme by consecutive use of ultrasound and microwave treatments is presented. The aim of the study was to apply an ultrasound pre-treatment of thyme leaves to enhance the thymol content and the extraction yield of the EO obtained by microwave-assisted hydro-distillation (MWHD). Compared with the conventional hydro-distillation (CHD), the consecutive use of ultrasound and microwave treatments resulted in a 72% lower extraction time. When the ultrasound pre-treatment (using the ultrasonic processor with an amplitude of 70%) was applied, the EO content was 23% higher compared to the extraction without pre-treatment. The EO samples were analyzed by GC/MS. The results showed that the major component, thymol, varied from 43.54% (by CHD) to 65.94% (by consecutive use of ultrasound and microwave treatments).

Context. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patient care was mainly organised around the hospital. Pre-hospital care has, to our knowledge, never been evaluated. Objective: To evaluate the impact of pre-hospital pathways on hospitalisation during the last part of the pandemic. Design. This was a monocentric retrospective analysis of prospectively collected medical records. Data from patients admitted to our institute between 1 February and 7 March 2022 were analysed. Main Outcome Measure(s): The primary outcomes were defined as the number of hospitalisations, resuscitations, and deaths at the time of interview and in the subsequent 30 days. The main explanatory variables were times from onset of symptoms to care, age, gender, News2 score, comorbidities, and pre-hospital pathways and their duration. Results: Three pre-hospital pathways have been identified: a pathway in which the patient consults a general practitioner for a test (PHP1); a pathway in which the patient consulted for care (PHP2); and no pre-hospital pathway and direct admission to hospital (PHP3). Factors independently associated with outcome (hospitalisation) were being male (OR 95% CI; 2.21 [1.01–4.84], p=0,04), News2 score (OR 95% CI; 2.04 [1.65–2.51], p<0.001), obesity (OR 95% CI; 3.45 [1.48–8.09], p=0.005), D-dimers > 0.5 µg/ml (OR 95% CI; 3.45 [1.47–8.12], p=0.005), prolonged time from symptoms to hospital care (PHP duration) (OR 95% CI; 1.07 [1.01–1.14], p=0.03). All things being equal, patients with a “PHP2” pre-hospital pathway had a higher probability of hospitalisation compared to those with a “PHP3” pre-hospital pathway (OR 95% CI; 4.31 [1.48–12.55], p=0.007). Conclusions. Along with recognised risk factors such as gender, News 2 score, and obesity, the patient’s pre-hospital pathway is an important risk factor associated with hospitalisation.

Today, concepts such as Emotional Education and Emotional Intelligence are recognized by many authors and researchers, emphasizing the importance of their development in all people, but especially in schools, specifically in teachers or educators and children. However, we still find many shortcomings within the schools that are needed to continue working. The aim of this study is to investigate the presence of emotional intelligence and empathy in teachers, through a sample of 42 participants. The research was conducted based on two validated and highly reliable assessment tools, called TMMS-24 and TECA. The results of the TMMS-24 indicate that a large percentage of participants have an adequate score of emotional intelligence. The results of the TECA indicate that most of the participants are in the middle, high or extremely high scores in relation to the level of empathy.

The introduction of tenofovir-derived prodrugs has revolutionised the prevention and management of HIV, which has coincided with 23% reduction in new HIV incidences globally. To date, there are two formulations of tenofovir-derived nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI): tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) and tenofovir alafenamide fumarate/emtricitabine (TAF/FTC). Although these prodrugs have shown favourable safety profile, their effects on cardiovascular health are differ from one another: TDF/FTC exhibits potential lipid-lowering effect, TAF/FTC demonstrates potential lipid-inducing effect, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, this issue has not been previously elucidated, especially among the marginalised populations [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and men who have sex with men (MSM)] who are likely be the main users of these prodrugs. This is of clinically significance as the cardiovascular health in these populations is often overlooked, in addition to a lack of appropriate cardiovascular risk prediction algorithm. Therefore, this review aims to (1) highlight the cardiovascular risks of tenofovir-derived prodrugs in the marginalized populations, and also to (2) establish the importance of having a cardiovascular risk prediction model that is specific to this particular populations so that their health management could be more comprehensive.

A vivid debate is ongoing in the scientific community about statistical malpractice and the related publication bias. No general consensus exists on the consequences and this is reflected in heterogeneous rules defined by scientific journals on the use and reporting of statistical inference. This paper aims at discussing how the debate is perceived by the agricultural economics community and implications for our roles as researchers, contributors to the scientific publication process, and teachers. We start by summarizing the current state of the p-value debate and the replication crisis, and commonly applied statistical practices in our community. This is followed by motivation, design, results and discussion of a survey on statistical knowledge and practice among the researchers in the agricultural economics community in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. We conclude that beyond short-term measures like changing rules of reporting in publications, a cultural change regarding empirical scientific practices is needed that stretches across all our roles in the scientific process. Acceptance of scientific work should largely be based on the theoretical and methodological rigor and where the perceived relevance arises from the questions asked, the methodology employed, and the data used but not from the results generated. Revised and clear journal guidelines, the creation of resources for teaching and research, and public recognition of good practice are suggested measures to move forward.

This study explores the impact of the ‘pre-intervention effects’ of a community-based interventions. This refers to participatory research processes and parallel publicity in the media on changes in alcohol use and relevant mechanisms (rules and norms about alcohol, accessibility of alcohol in a formal setting) among adolescents before any intervention is implemented. In a quasi-experimental study, adolescent data were collected twice by means of self-report among adolescents living in two municipalities (control and experimental condition). Regression analysis showed pre-intervention main effects on adolescents’ perceived accessibility of alcohol in a formal setting. Moreover, among adolescents aged 15 years and older, the normative decline in strictness of rules and norms was less steep in the experimental condition compared to the control condition. Also, adolescents aged 14 years and younger in the experimental condition reported more weekly drinking compared to their peers in the control condition. No differential effects across gender were found. To conclude, applying a co-creational approach in the development of an intervention, not only contributes to more effective interventions in the end, but involvement of and discussions in the community at the start of intervention planning are contributing to changes in targeted factors. This implies that public discussions about the development of intervention strategies should be considered as an essential feature of co-creation in community-based interventions.

This work presents updated reconstructions of watershed runoff to San Francisco Estuary from tree-ring data to AD 903, coupled with models relating runoff to freshwater flow to the estuary and salinity intrusion. We characterize pre-development freshwater flow and salinity conditions in the estuary over the past millennium and compare this characterization with contemporary conditions to better understand the magnitude and seasonality of changes over this time. This work shows that the instrumented flow record spans the range of runoff patterns over the past millennium (averaged over five, ten, twenty and one hundred years), and thus serves as a reasonable basis for planning-level evaluations of historical hydrologic conditions in the estuary. Over annual timescales we show that, although median freshwater flow to the estuary has not changed significantly, it has been more variable over the past century compared to pre-development flow conditions. We further show that the contemporary period is generally associated with greater spring salinity intrusion and lesser summer-fall salinity intrusion relative to the pre-development period. Thus, salinity intrusion in summer and fall months was a common occurrence under pre-development conditions and has been moderated in the contemporary period due to the operations of upstream reservoirs, which were designed to hold winter and spring runoff for release in summer and fall. This work also confirms a dramatic decadal-scale hydrologic shift in the watershed from very wet to very dry conditions during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; while not unprecedented, these shifts have been seen only a few times in the past millennium. This shift resulted in an increase in salinity intrusion in the first three decades of the 20th century, as documented through early records. Population growth and extensive watershed modification during this period exacerbated this underlying hydrologic shift. Putting this shift in the context of other anthropogenic drivers is important in understanding the historical response of the estuary and in setting salinity targets for estuarine restoration. By characterizing the long-term behavior of San Francisco Estuary, this work supports decision-making in the State of California related to flow and salinity management for restoration of the estuarine ecosystem.

Modern day civilization is dependent on energy generation by fossil fuels. But the major drawback of using fossil fuels is environmental pollution. Microalgae are potential candidate for production of various products of interest, such as proteins, mini food, pigments and triglycerides that can be converted into biofuels. Lignocellulosic feedstocks are the most abundantly available raw material of plants that can serve as a promising feedstock for cultivating bacteria, fungi, yeasts and microalgae to produce biofuels and other value-added products. Owing to the abundant availability of these low/no cost substrates, can be utilized as feedstocks for cultivating microalgae to generate biogas/biodiesel. Likewise, there is much room to exploit defatted algal biomass to be used as animal/fish feed and oil producing/accumulating genes knowledge in future to produce high and good quality biodiesel and biogas.

Cardiotonic glycoside toxins, originally isolated from plants or amphibians, have been proposed as mammalian cardiotonic hormones. This paper is a review and update of the discovery of [i] a new class of steroid hormones, [ii] the path for their biosynthesis and [iii] some preliminary data on their function. The compounds are phosphoester conjugates and share a characteristic structural feature, a lactone ring, with [a] one class of synthetic potassium sparing diuretics and with [b] plant and amphibian cardiotonic steroids. Purification was initially monitored by cross reaction with steroid sulfate assays and later with digoxin-specific assays. Six compounds were purified by HPLC to near homogeneity and characterized by Tandem mass spectroscopy (MS-MS) and 31P-NMR. Three were digoxin-like materials (DLM) with 23 carbon atoms. The two extra carbon atoms form a spiral lactone E-ring. Several additional spiral lactones have been identified by MS-MS. In a pilot study, based on MS analysis, we evaluated phosphocholine steroid levels in individual serum samples in patients with pre-eclampsia (n=20). The control group of normotensive pregnant women (n=20) was used to estimate the mean and standard deviation. Twelve of the women with pre-eclampsia had a z-score over 2 for at least one of the four phosphocholine steroids. In contrast, only 1 sample from the normotensive women had a z-score over 2. The observation that there are two patterns, one with elevated phosphocholine steroid levels and one without the elevation, suggests that there may be two different underlying causes of pre-eclampsia. We now need to extend the study to determine which pattern predicts progression to life-threatening hypertension in pregnant women. This pilot study illustrates that it is possible to evaluate individual endogenous cardiotonic hormones without relying on antibodies developed to plant or amphibian toxins.

Several articles have reported that the low number of COVID-19 cases in Japan is attributed to the small number of diagnostic RT-PCR tests performed. The criticism is based on the low number of the tests performed, and they suspected there would be more potential cases in Japan. The use of pre-test probability among tested subjects is proposed in order to evaluate of the sufficiency of test availability instead of the number of the tests. The pre-test probability means the average probability, i.e., ‘suspicion level’, of having coronavirus among the tested subject in a country. The higher pre-test probability is regarded as less sufficient opportunity of the tests, and the test availability could be evaluated by the pre-test probability. Thus, potential problems of underestimation of COVID-19 cases by insufficient amount of the test would be clear by using pre-test probability. The comparison of the pre-test probability could be replaced with that of the positive rate of the test because of the linear relationship between them under the assumption of common sensitivity and specificity. Japan shows the third lowest rate (8.6%), and is considered that the considerably sufficient number of the tests have been performed. In conclusion, the positive rate of the test as a surrogate index of the pre-test probability is useful to evaluate the sufficiency of test amount instead of the number of the tests performed. In present, the potential problem of underestimation by insufficient test availability would be less serious in Japan.

The ability to replicate scientific experiments is a cornerstone of the scientific method. Sharing ideas, workflows, data, and protocols facilitates testing the generalizability of results, increases the speed that science progresses, and enhances quality control of published work. Fields of science such as medicine, the social sciences, and the physical sciences have embraced practices designed to increase replicability. Granting agencies, for example, may require data management plans and journals may require data and code availability statements along with the deposition of data and code in publicly available repositories. While many tools commonly used in replicable workflows such as distributed version control systems (e.g. “git”) or scripted programming languages for data cleaning and analysis may have a steep learning curve, their adoption can increase individual efficiency and facilitate collaborations both within entomology and across disciplines. The open science movement is developing within the discipline of entomology, but practitioners of these concepts or those desiring to work more collaboratively across disciplines may be unsure where or how to embrace these initiatives. This article is meant to introduce some of the tools entomologists can incorporate into their workflows to increase the replicability and openness of their work. We describe these tools and others, recommend additional resources for learning more about these tools, and discuss the benefits to both individuals and the scientific community and potential drawbacks associated with implementing a replicable workflow.

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor in adults, remains one of the least treatable cancers. Current standard of care—combining surgical resection, radiation, and alkylating chemotherapy—results in a median survival of only 15 months. Despite decades of investment and research into the development of new therapies, most candidate anti-glioma compounds fail to translate into effective treatments in clinical trials. One key issue underlying this failure of therapies that work in pre-clinical models to generate meaningful improvement in human patients is the profound mismatch between drug discovery systems—cell cultures and mouse models—and the actual tumors they are supposed to imitate. Indeed, current strategies that evaluate the effects of novel treatments on GBM cells in vitro fail to account for a wide range of factors known to influence tumor growth. These include secreted factors, the brain’s unique extracellular matrix, circulatory structures, the presence of non-tumor brain cells, and nutrient sources available for tumor metabolism. While mouse models provide a more realistic testing ground for potential therapies, they still fail to account for the full complexity of tumor-microenvironment interactions, as well as the role of the immune system. Based on the limitations of current models, researchers have begun to develop and implement novel culture systems that better recapitulate the complex reality of brain tumors growing in situ. A rise in the use of patient derived cells, creative combinations of added growth factors and supplements, may provide a more effective proving ground for the development of novel therapies. This review will summarize and analyze these exciting developments in 3D culturing systems. Special attention will be paid to how they enhance the design and identification of compounds that increase the efficacy of radiotherapy, a bedrock of GBM treatment.

This study presents a pre-processing approach adopted for the radar reflectivity data assimilation and results of simulations with the Harmonie numerical weather prediction model. The method shows an improvement of precipitation prediction within the radar location area in both the rain rates and spatial pattern presentation. With the assimilation of radar data, the model simulates larger water content in the middle troposphere within the layer from 1 to 6 km, with major variations at 2.5–3 km; it also reproduces better the mesoscale belt and cell patterns of precipitation fields.