The implementation of sustainable practices, such as the use of renewable sources and efficient technologies, is crucial for reducing climate change. Energy efficiency is highly important on a global scale due to its relationship with climate change, aiming to minimize environmental impact. In Spain, renewable energy policies have increased self-sufficiency and reduced the use of fossil fuels. Optimizing energy consumption in residences, buildings, and industries is essential for improving efficiency. This was taken into consideration for conducting this study, focusing on the residential sector. The desire to understand the level of energy efficiency in Extremadura drove this project, which focuses on collecting and analyzing data on a set of homes located in the au-tonomous community of Extremadura, with the purpose of evaluating their energy efficiency. To achieve this, a computer tool will be employed to provide a detailed view of the different levels of energy efficiency present in the community. In addition to data collection and analysis, research will be conducted to identify areas for improvement. This will allow proposing a series of specific measures that users can implement to optimize energy efficiency in their homes, adapting them to the particular characteristics of each residence.

The methods of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been used in the planning and operation of power systems for more than 40 years. In recent years, due to the development of microprocessor and data storage technologies, the effectiveness of this use has greatly increased. This paper provides a systematic overview of the application of AI including the use of Machine Learning (ML) to the power system. The potential application areas are divided into four blocks and the classification matrix has been used for clustering the AI application tasks. Furthermore, the data acquisition methods for setting the parameters of AI and ML algorithms are presented and discussed in a systematic way considering the supervised and unsupervised learning methods. Based on this, three complex application examples: wind power generation forecasting, smart grid security as-sessment (using two methods), and automatic system fault detection are presented and discussed in detail. Summary and outlook conclude the paper.

This study investigates the impacts of climate change policies on businesses across various sectors, aiming to understand how these regulations affect operational, financial, and strategic aspects of business management. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, data was collected from 500 businesses through surveys and interviews, encompassing a wide range of industries, sizes, and geographic locations. The findings reveal a complex landscape where 30% of businesses report positive impacts, primarily in the renewable energy and technology sectors, citing increased demand for green products and improvements in energy efficiency. Conversely, 45% of businesses, especially from manufacturing and agriculture, experience negative impacts, including increased operational costs and regulatory compliance challenges. Notwithstanding, a significant majority of businesses are committed to enhancing their sustainability practices, viewing climate change policies as an opportunity for innovation and long-term growth. The study highlights the nuanced effects of climate change policies, emphasizing the need for sector-specific support measures to alleviate financial and operational burdens on negatively impacted businesses. Moreover, it points to a broader shift towards sustainability within the business community, suggesting that climate policies, despite their varied impacts, are driving significant changes in business strategies towards environmental stewardship.

The future index prices are viewed as a critical issue for any trader and investor. For this craving, various models have shown up in the literature. The Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) is one of the popular models. This work examines four types of GBM as per the presence of memory or kind of volatility. These models include classical GBM with memoryless and constant volatility assumptions, SVGBM with memoryless and stochastic volatility assumption, GFBM with memory and constant volatility assumption, and SVGFBM with memory and stochastic volatility assumption. These models are utilized in an empirical study to forecast the future index price of Energy Sector in the Saudi Stock Exchange Market. The assessment was led by utilizing two error standards, mean square error (MSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The outcomes showed that the SVGFBM occupies the highest level of accuracy according to smallest values of MSE and MAPE. While the accuracy of GBM come in the tail of the list models under study. These results have affirmed the positive affection of combining memory and stochastic volatility assumption into the GBM model, which agreed findings of numerous earlier works. Furthermore, the findings showed the GFBM models are more accurate than GBM models regardless of the type of volatility. While, under the same type of memory, the models with stochastic volatility assumption are more accurate than the corresponding models of constant volatility assumption. In general, all models considered in this work uncovered high accuracy through the value of MAPE ≤ 10%. This indicates of the ability of applying these models in a real financial environment. Through this empirical study, we can say that the Energy Sector in Saudi Arabia is predictable and stable and afterward we urge financial investors and stockholder to trade and invest in this sector.

The knowledge of COVID-19 impact on the human body has increased rapidly. Although many people recover from COVID-19, some continue to experience persistent symptoms that have been identified as Long COVID. This condition can have a severe impact on quality of life, and it remains a significant concern for medical professionals and researchers. One of the key components of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that enables it to enter human cells is the spike (S) protein. Recent studies have revealed a complex network of interactions between G proteins, spike (S) protein, and the Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) may be responsible, at least in part, for long COVID. SARS-CoV-2 can also affect the brain, leading to neurological symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, and fatigue. Increasing evidence suggests that COVID-19 is not just a respiratory illness since it is likely that the virus could influence signal transduction pathways such as G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), among others, in the brain, either directly or indirectly, affecting neural functions. These interactions with the spike (S) protein and RAS, alongside the brain, are complex and require deep research to understand their implications for Long COVID-19 manifestation fully. While recent research has shed light on the complex interactions between G proteins, spike (S) protein, the brain, and the angiotensin system, this article explores these interconnected pathways and their implications for long COVID-19 manifestations. The present review summarises current research on different molecular mechanisms in Long COVID pathophysiology and may help identify possible targets or new strategies for the diagnosis and treatment.

Most works related to the identification of mathematical nonlinear systems make one suppose that such approaches can always be directly applied to any nonlinear system. This misconception produces a great deal of discouragement when the obtained results are not the expected ones. Thus, the current work hypothesizes that the most information one has about the mathematical structure of the model, the most precise the identification result should be. Therefore, a variant of the Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics (SINDY) approach is presented to obtain the full mathematical nonlinear model of a high-order system with coupled dynamics, namely, a commercial quadcopter. Furthermore, due to its high sensitivity to inputs, a control system is devised using the identified model to stabilize the quadcopter. This illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed identification method.

Innovation and sustainability are key elements gaining important positions in public and private organizations’ agenda in recent years. Whilst innovation drives for more productivity, efficiency and competitiveness, sustainability incorporation into the development of the organizations outlines as a counterbalance. It helps directing the innovative endeavors of the organizations towards more responsible activities in terms of environmental, economic and social impacts. To help achieve that, standardization offers valuable tools to orient organizational development efforts towards sustainability. This research aims at exploring the plausible connection between use or implementation of standards and pursuit of sustainability in an important industrial sector in Romania – food industry. The objective of the research is to determine which of the two iden-tified hypothesis can be scientifically supported using the quantitative research methods. The expected results are that more than simply following short-term objectives, companies that con-sciously use recognized standards in their activity pursue long-term sustainability.

This study investigated the characteristics of radio-frequency middle-pressure argon plasma used in the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 films. Based on the electrical characteristics, that is current, voltage, and phase shift between them, and stability of plasma plume, the optimum plasma power, allowing reliable switching on the plasma for any step of an ALD cycle, was determined. Spectral measurements were performed to determine the gas temperature and reactive species that could be important in the ALD process. The density of metastable argon atoms was estimated using tunable laser absorption spectroscopy. It was concluded that plasma heating of substrates did not affect film growth and proposed that the crystallization-enhancing effect of plasma was due to the action of OH radicals, produced in the plasma.

Trace amines are a separate, independent group of biogenic amines, close in structure to classical monoamine neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. G protein-coupled Trace Amine-Associated Receptors (TAAR) are mostly investigated for their involvement in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders, but expression of TAAR family receptors is observed also in various populations of cells of the immune system. The review is focused on the basic information on the interaction of trace amines and their receptors with cells of the general immune system of humans and other mammals, as well as on data on TAARs role in the function of individual populations of myeloid and lymphoid cells. With further research on the regulatory role of the trace amine system in the pathogenesis of the immune response and determination of the biological mechanisms for their action it would be possible to develop new methods for treating diseases related to immune system dysfunctions.

We investigate the shear quasinormal modes (QNMs) in the context of electron stars, focusing on the Lifshitz geometry and exploring the behavior in the small star limit. The study begins by analyzing the shear sector modes in the infrared (IR) Lifshitz limit, where the geometry approaches that of a pure Lifshitz space. We derive and solve the differential equations governing the shear modes, revealing the asymptotic behavior in terms of the Lifshitz exponent. In the special case of integer values of the exponent, we obtain analytic corrections to the solutions to extract hydrodynamical QNMs. We then explore the cases with a Lifshitz exponent equal to or greater than three, providing analytical corrections to the Lifshitz IR solutions. A special case with an exponent of two is also considered, leading to modified solutions. The study extends to finding hydrodynamical QNMs, emphasizing the role of the Lifshitz geometry. Further investigations involve the flux with real and complex frequencies, considering the off-shell Lagrangian and deriving conserved flux expressions. Our analysis focuses on the exterior of the star, modeled by the Reissner-Nordström-AdS geometry. The small star limit is examined, revealing interesting features in the behavior of fermionic excitations. In summary, we provide a detailed exploration of shear quasinormal modes in electron stars, shedding light on their behavior in Lifshitz geometry, small star limits, and the interplay between real and complex frequencies. Our findings contribute to our understanding of the dynamics of electron stars and their gravitational properties.

This study examines the dynamic relationship between Green Human Resource Management (Green HRM), Environmental Performance (EP), Green Employee Behavior (GEB), and Environmental Knowledge and Awareness (EKAW) within the Egyptian hospitality sector context. Using Pearson correlation coefficients and regression analyses on a sample of 400 staff members from hotels and tourist villages in Egypt, the study examines Green HRM practices’ influence on EP, mediated by GEB and moderated by EKAW. The findings reveal significant positive correlations between Green HRM practices and these mediators, indicating that comprehensive environmental strategies and incentive management are pivotal in promoting eco-friendly practices among employees. The study further confirms GEB and EKAW’s substantial mediating role in enhancing EP. The results also suggest that while EKAW and GEB independently contribute to EP, their interaction and the role of environmental awareness as a potential moderator warrant further examination. This research contributes to the literature on sustainable business practices by underscoring human resource strategies’ integral role in achieving environmental sustainability goals, highlighting the importance of incentivizing green practices, and cultivating an organizational culture that prioritizes EKAW. These insights are particularly valuable for organizations seeking to enhance their ecological footprint through effective Green HRM practices.

Bat feces were reported in ancient Chinese medicine books to have the effect of reducing heat and improving eyesight, but the mechanism of vision improvement still needs further research. To this end, we used 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) to analyze the antioxidant capacity of and the types of vitamins in bat feces. We hoped to screen the pharmacological components of bat feces, and to explain the role that these components may play in the treatment of visual deterioration. Our results found that bat feces had a good antioxidant capacity and mainly contain vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (nicotinamide), B3 (nicotinic acid), and B5 (pantothenic acid). Although these vitamins may help maintain the health of the optic nerve and cornea, the vitamin content of bat feces is low, but the heavy metal content is high, as shown using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis. Therefore, we suggest that the use of bat feces as traditional Chinese medicine to improve vision should be strictly restricted.

In this paper, we introduce a compressible formulation for dealing with 2D/3D compressible interfacial flows. The formulation is combined with an original monolithic solver, according to which a strong velocity-pressure coupling is achieved. The results show that the scheme can ensure accuracy and stability for various fluid flow scenarios: from the standard incompressible conditions to compressible flows, spanning both single-phase and two-phase flows.

Chaotic theory is commonly being researched for application in image encryption scheme (IES). In this paper, a novel two-dimensional cross hyperchaotic Sine-modulation-Logistic map (2D-CHSLM) based on the famous Sine and Logistic maps. The hyperchaotic behaviors of 2D-CHSLM is testified with the help of their bifurcation diagrams, trajectory plots, Lyapunov exponents, sample entropy, C0 complexity, permutation entropy and 0-1 test. A new bit-level IES with traditional encryption structure is proposed utilizing 2D-CHSLM. The 2D-CHSLM-IES performs a 2D-CHSLM-based bit-level confusion using zig-zag transform and a 2D-CHSLM-based cross coupled diffusion operations for generating a highly secure cipher-image. Then the simulations and security analyses are further carried out with the help of key space, key sensitivity, histogram, correlation, information entropy, differential attack, noise and data loss attacks, prove that the security of the proposed 2D-CHSLM-IES

The rapid growth of the elderly population is a major global demographic and social issue. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of pension plans and social se-curity programmes for this population in developing countries which has severe consequences for their quality of life and planetary health (PH) wellbeing. In this article, we aimed to better understand the pension systems in Ghana, Pakistan, and Myanmar, by reviewing the official government materials (such as pension reports) and published literature. We observed several policy implementation gaps and inequity in pension schemes for older people, specifically for informal and private sector workers. Considering the size of formal versus informal economies and the level of development index of each country, we suggest a wide variety of options in pension policies, financing, designing cash benefits and pension payments to cover all older citizens. This article addresses an unmet need of the elderly people, their wider environmental and economic sustainability to ensure social justice and resource utilization. The governments of developing countries should embrace and establish unique, inclusive, and friendly policies encompassing the informal sector to warrant older adults’ functional and planetary wellbeing with dignity and honor.

Background: biophysical stimulation therapy, and in particular Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMFs) and capacitively coupled electric fields (CCEFs) has significantly increased in the last twenty years. For this, it is necessary to have clear information regarding the efficacy, the therapeutic indication and the expected objectives. Methods: we conducted a narrative review taking into consideration different types of studies with different areas of application. The objective was to take into consideration and analyze the different fields of use and the relevant information present in the literature. Results: There is unanimous opinion regarding the usefulness of applying biophysical therapy on the bone compartment both in terms of the tissue healing process and the symptoms associated with this situation. Differently, but no less importantly, in the joint compartment positive opinions were observed mainly on the inflammatory and catabolic process, however, at present,we did not report evidence regarding cartilaginous tissue regeneration. Conclusion: the effectiveness of PEMFs and CCEFs on the bone healing process in the Orthopedic and Traumatology fields is consolidated evidence in the literature. We have also found positive results on symptoms and patient compliance with rehabilitation therapies. Therefore, notable application can be envisaged in the fields of Prosthetic Surgery and Sports Medicine.

As urbanization has accelerated, China has started to build smart cities, which have formed smart city clusters. It is critical to coordinate development within smart city clusters to enhance the efficiency of city cluster construction. From the perspective of demographic economics, this study innovatively constructed an evaluation system for the coordinated development of smart city clusters and utilized the coupled coordination degree model to conduct an in-depth study of smart city clusters in Jiangsu Province. The results show that there are clear differences in the development between the three regions of Jiangsu Province: Southern Jiangsu, Central Jiangsu, and Northern Jiangsu. The development within Jiangsu Province is imbalanced, where the overall development trend is high in the southern region and low in the northern region. The main driving factors include geography, the Matthew effect, game thinking, and industrial structure. Accordingly, the results suggest the following recommendations for the coordinated development of smart city clusters: strengthening cross-regional cooperation, promoting data sharing and interoperability, deepening synergistic industrial development, and expanding innovation capacity.

Ultra-low radioactive titanium alloy is a promising material for the manufacture of low-background detectors, which are being developed for experiments in astroparticle physics and neutrino astrophysics. Structural titanium is manufactured on an industrial scale from titanium-sponge. The ultra-low-background titanium-sponge can be produced on an industrial scale with a contamination level of less than 1 mBq/kg of uranium and thorium isotopes. The pathways of contaminants during the industrial production of structural titanium have been analyzed. The measurements have been carried out using two methods: inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and gamma-spectroscopy using high-purity germanium detectors (HPGe). It has been shown that the level of contamination with radioactive impurities does not increase during remelting of titanium-sponge and mechanical processing. We examined titanium-alloys samples obtained at different stages of titanium production, namely, an electrode compaction, a vacuum arc remelting with a consumable electrode (VAR), and a cold rolling of titanium-sheets. It has been found out that all studied samples will be a source of uranium and thorium contamination of the final titanium-alloys. It has been established that the only product allowed obtaining ultra-low-background titanium was the VT1-00 which is manufactured without master alloys addition..

The Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Limited (IEPL) is found in the southern part of Nigeria more specifically on the Rivers State southern religion Nigeria. It consists of five distinct units, each of which generates its own unique trash at a rate of around 3115.98 tonnes per year. This study had the goal of concentrating on the management of the processing wastes in order to minimize the negative effects that they have on the environment. It is necessary to have an understanding of the number, nature, and make-up of IEPL's industrial wastes in order to effectively manage and regulate the development of waste there. As a result, we decided to collect data through the use of questionnaires. The classification of industrial wastes was accomplished by doing a comparative study and synthesis of research that were relevant to the management of petrochemical waste. Because an individual coding system is required for the integrated management of industrial waste, we gave each type of trash a code that consists of thirteen digits. The primary components of trash were catalysts (9.58 percent), metallic materials (7.62 percent), plastic barrels (35.77 percent), coke (12.66 percent), wood (4.47%), oil (4.15%), glass (0.028 percent), cooling tower packaging (6.7 percent), and other material (18.83 percent). According to the findings of the investigation into the physical qualities of the wastes, only 11.81% of these residues were liquid, while 88.19% were solid. The current handling of these wastes has been experiencing significant difficulties as of late. garbage management at IEPL was particularly challenging due to the wide variety of wastes produced there and the dangerous nature of the wastes themselves (88.19% of garbage was hazardous waste). Recycling and reuse of garbage may have been the greatest decision in some situations; yet, incineration and disposal of waste are also necessary options.

A comprehensive theory is developed for the chiral optical response of two configurations of the N-oscillator Born-Kuhn model (NOBK): the helically stacked and the corner stacked models. In the helical NOBK model, there is always a chiral response regardless of the value of N, whereas in the corner NOBK, only configurations with even N demonstrate a chiral response. Generally, the magnitudes of optical rotatory dispersion (ORD) and circular dichroism (CD) increase with N when the parameters of each oscillator are fixed. In cases of weak coupling, the spectral shapes of ORD and CD remain invariant, while strong coupling significantly alters the spectral shapes. For large damping, the spectral amplitude becomes smaller, and the spectral features become broader. In the presence of small damping, strong coupling introduces degeneracy in the coupled oscillator system, leading to multiple spectral features in both ORD and CD across the entire spectral region. This simple model not only can help in the design of tunable chiral metamaterials but also enhance our understanding of chiro-optical responses in structures with different configurations.

This review explores the transformative impact of sensor technologies in early disease detection. It highlights recent advancements in nanotechnology-based sensors, particularly focusing on their applications in identifying disease biomarkers at early stages. The integration of these sensors with artificial intelligence for predictive analytics in healthcare is also discussed. Applications in cancer, infectious diseases, and chronic disease management underscore their diverse utility. Challenges in sensor technology adoption and future directions, including multiplexed sensors and wearable devices, are examined. This review underscores sensors' potential in enhancing disease management and patient outcomes.

The susceptible-infected-recovered/removed-vaccinated (SIRV) epidemics model is an important generalization of the SIR epidemics model as it accounts quantitatively for the effects of vaccination campaigns on the temporal evolution of epidemics outbreaks. Additional to the time-dependent infection ($a(t)$) and recovery ($\mu (t)$) rates, regulating the transitions between the compartments $S\to I$ and $I\to R$, respectively, the time-dependent vaccination rate $v(t)$ accounts for the transition between the compartments $S\to V$ of susceptible to vaccinated fractions. An accurate analytical approximation is derived for arbitrary and different temporal dependencies of the rates which is valid for all times after the start of the epidemics for which the cumulative fraction of new infections $J(t)\ll 1$. As vaccination campaigns automatically reduce the rate of new infections by transferring susceptible to vaccinated persons, the limit $J(t)\ll 1$ is even better fulfilled than in the SIR-epidemics model. The comparison of the analytical approximation for the temporal dependence of the rate of new infections $\jt(t)=a(t)S(t)I(t)$, the corresponding cumulative fraction $J(t)$, and $V(t)$, respectively, with the exact numerical solution of the SIRV-equations for different illustrative examples proves the accuracy of our approach. The considered illustrative examples include the cases of stationary ratios with a delayed start of vaccinations, and an oscillating ratio of recovery to infection rate with a delayed vaccination at constant rate. The proposed analytical approximation is self-regulating as the final analytical expression for the cumulative fraction $\jinf $ after infinite time allows us to check the validity of the original assumption $J(t)\le \jinf \ll 1$.

The SWOT analysis, pivotal in the competitive healthcare sector, aids dentists in identifying and analyzing internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. This study focuses on senior dental students, aiming to scrutinize their use of SWOT analysis and evaluate its efficacy as an educational tool for career decision-making in dental entrepreneurship. The research sample comprises 116 senior dental students in the final stages of their dental education, with data collection accomplished through the administration of an e-questionnaire. The data extracted from the SWOT analysis encompass internal and external factors, gender distinctions, and outcomes derived from Stepwise Binary Logistic Regression concerning predictor markers. The results from the SWOT analysis of 114 questionnaires, revealed that participants identified communication skills (50%) and organization skills (49.10%) as their primary strengths, followed by favorable personal traits contributing to goal success (36%). Weaknesses predominantly centered around emotional and personal traits like anxiety (41.20%) and other characteristics, alongside practical challenges such as lack of initial capital (24.60%). Main opportunities included collaboration with experienced dentists (33.30%) and access to training programs (27.20%), while economic instability in Greece (77.20%) and the saturated dentist profession (26.30%) were perceived as significant threats. Gender differences were notable, with female dentists more likely to report organization skills as a strength and anxiety as a weakness. Values such as industriousness, persistence, and ethics were commonly shared, with actions focusing on training programs (57.9%) and gaining experience with experienced dentists (29.8%). Cluster analysis identified two subgroups, with one emphasizing on utilizing all available options (n=49) and the other prioritizing on gaining professional skills and experience (n=65). Logistic regression indicated that participants valuing industriousness were less likely to explore all available options, while those recognizing personal traits were more likely to do so. The study's outcomes highlight key predictor factors linked to a proactive orientation in career decision-making among senior dental students. These insights offer valuable implications for educational institutions and career counselors.

Manual handling tasks, both in daily activities and at work, require high dexterity and the ability to move objects of different shapes and sizes. However, musculoskeletal disorders that can arise due to aging, disabilities, overloading, or strenuous work can impact the natural capabilities of the hand with serious repercussions both in working and daily activities. To address this, researchers have been developing and proving the benefits of wrist exoskeleton., This paper, which is the part II of a study on wrist exoskeletons, presents and summarizes wearable wrist exoskeleton devices conceived for use in rehabilitation, assistance, and occupational fields. Exoskeletons considered within the study are those available either in a prototyping phase or on the market. They can support the human wrist by relieving pain or mitigating fatigue while allowing at least one movement. According to the requirements to be met, the majority have been designed active (80%) for higher force/torque transmission, and soft for better kinematic compliance, ergonomics, and safety (13 devices out of 24, more than 50%). Electric motors (11 devices out of 24, almost 50%) and cable transmission (9 devices out of 24, almost 40%) are the most common due to their simplicity, controllability, safety, power-to-weight ratio, and the possibility of remote actuation. As sensing technologies, position and force sensors are widely used in all devices (almost 90%). The control strategy depends mainly on the application domain: for rehabilitation, CPM (Control Passive Motion) is preferred (35% of the devices), while for assistance and occupational purposes AAN (Assistance-As-Needed) is more suitable (38% of the devices). What emerges from this analysis is that while rehabilitation and training are fields in which exoskeletons have been grown more easily and gained some user acceptance (almost 18 devices of which 4 are available on the market), relatively few devices have been designed for occupational aims (6 of which only 2 are available on the market) due to difficulties in meeting the acceptance and needs of users. In this perspective, as a result of the state-of-the-art analysis, the authors propose a conceptual idea of a portable soft wrist exoskeleton for occupational assistance.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is revolutionizing the oil and gas industry by offering powerful insights and innovative solutions. This paper explores the cutting-edge applications of CFD in enhancing and innovating within the sector. CFD simulations provide engineers with invaluable insights into fluid behavior, enabling optimized designs and informed decision-making. The software facilitates foresight by predicting system performance, optimizing drilling techniques, and maximizing reservoir management strategies. Moreover, CFD optimizes equipment design, increases operational efficiency, and reduces costs through virtual testing, eliminating the need for costly physical prototypes. The application of CFD aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promoting energy efficiency, climate action, responsible production, and sustainable consumption. It addresses flow assurance challenges, enhances safety protocols, and mitigates environmental impacts. CFD is a powerful tool driving innovation, resilience, and sustainability within the oil and gas industry, ensuring a more efficient, safe, and environmentally conscious future. As advancements in CFD methodologies continue, the potential for further enhancements and breakthroughs within the sector becomes even more promising, driving the industry towards a sustainable and prosperous future.

There are two major proposed forms of dark energy: the cosmological constant and the quintessence scalar field. However, the former has the cosmological constant problem and the latter does not have observational evidence to support the theory. In this paper, we propose a dark energy paradigm to solve the cosmological constant problem and to predict lepton masses as evidence. The dark energy paradigm is a unified dark sector that is based on Planck's dimensional analysis, Lambda CDM, energy conservation, and force equilibrium. We find that dark energy can vary from the cosmological constant to the Planck scale. We find that the predicted values of lepton masses based on the dark energy paradigm agree with the observed values to 1% (or within error ranges).

Discrete-time architectures offer a distinct advantage over their continuous counterparts, as they can be seamlessly implemented on embedded hardware without the necessity for discretization processes. Yet, because of the difficulty of ensuring Lyapunov difference expressions, their designs, which are based on quadratic Lyapunov-based frameworks, are highly complex. As a result, various existing continuous-time results using adaptive control methods to deal with system uncertainties and coupled dynamics in agents of a multiagent system cannot be directly applied to the discrete-time context. Furthermore, compared to their continuous-time equivalent, discrete-time information exchange based on periodic time intervals is more practical in the control of multiagent systems. In this paper, we first introduce a discrete-time adaptive control architecture designed for uncertain scalar multiagent systems without coupled dynamics as a preliminary result. We then introduce another discrete-time adaptive control approach for uncertain multiagent systems in the presence of coupled dynamics. Our approach incorporates observer dynamics to manage unmeasurable coupled dynamics, along with a user-assigned Laplacian matrix to induce cooperative behaviors among multiple agents. Our solution includes Lyapunov analysis with logarithmic and quadratic Lyapunov functions for guaranteeing asymptotic stability with both controllers. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control architectures, we provide an illustrative example.

A hybrid organic molecules as ligands and inorganic NCs in this research combines the chemical properties of organic semiconductors with the chemical stability of inor- ganic nanoparticles like PbS. It is possible to improve the ligand exchange and PbS-NCs' distribution by adding Amino phynel anchor group to TIPs-pentacene and Carboxylic anchor group to Tetraphenylporphyrin molecules. By adding anchor groups to one or two sides of these molecules, they would convert the molecules to ecient ligands to obtain superlattice coupled organic-inorganic nanostrcuture semicondcutor layers (COINs). Adding on side group would cap the PbS nanoparticles while adding two an- chor group would play a linker role between two PbS NCs. This morophology enhance- ment paves the way to manipulate the physical properties of the COINs and fabricate solar cells. Singlet ssion phenomena demonstrates pentacene molecule's advantage for high eciency in organic solar cells and its ability to overcome the Schockley-Queisser limit. Ultraviolet photo-emission spectroscopy (UPS) determines the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the work function of COINs, while the lowest unoccu- pied molecular orbital (LUMO) of COINs were calculated subsequently by adding both the exciton binding energy and the optical band gap to the measured HOMO energy. The current versus voltage characteristics and impedance spectroscopy were studied for these molecules as well.

This paper introduces a novel ensemble adjustment Kalman filter (EAKF) that integrates a machine-learning approach. The approach employs nonlinear variable relationships established by a deep neural network (DNN) during the analysis stage of the EAKF. This process nonlinearly projects observation increments into the state variable space. The newly developed DNN-EAKF algorithm can be applied to coupled data assimilation using coupled ocean-atmosphere models. It enhances cross-component updates in strongly coupled data assimilation (SCDA) by diminishing errors in estimating cross-component error covariance arising from insufficient ensemble members, thereby improving the SCDA analysis. This paper employs a conceptual model to conduct twin experiments, validating the DNN-EAKF’s capability to utilize cross-component observation information in SCDA effectively. The approach is anticipated to offer insights for future methodological integrations of machine learning and data assimilation and provide methods for SCDA applications in coupled general circulation models.

The present state of the natural environment is significantly influenced by the construction sector. Due to the large amounts of consumed natural resources and materials as well as the high volume of emitted pollutants, the building industry is considered to have a key influence in achieving a global sustainable development. A considerable part of the ecological impact of the built environment is influenced by the energy consumed for creating appropriate indoor conditions as well as by the greenhouse gases that are emitted during the operation stage of a building’s life cycle. Therefore, the energy performances of existing buildings must be significantly improved in the near future. This paper analyzes the influence of the thermal insulation thickness of walls on the linear thermal transmittances and the heating demand of an existing building. The resulted values show that while increasing the insulation of the walls leads to a serious heat demand reduction, a deep renovation of the building cannot be achieved solely by using this solution.

In several emergency situations, during natural or human-caused disasters, frontline responders need to be able to communicate and collaborate to properly carry out the relief mission. Some countries are building their national Public Safety Mobile Broadband based on cellular LTE technology to provide fast, safe, and secure emergency services. Otherwise, in several emergency situations, the cellular antennas can be overloaded or partially damaged in manner to affect the group communication services. Since few last years, direct device-to-device (D2D) communications have been proposed by 3GPP as an underlay to Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks based on proximity, reuse, and hop gains. This paper focuses on the loosely coupled model based on D2D direct communication for Public Safety context. Many scenarios related to user membership and network management are detailed. Both “less cost” and “optimized tree” approaches are proposed, implemented, and their performance evaluated in terms of network updates number and resulting average Channel Quality Indicator (CQI). Other optimization approaches with different CQI threshold and optimization interval values have been implemented, simulated and their performance are compared with the “optimized tree”.

The influence of the ligands in coupled organic-inorganic nanostructures (COINs) on the performance of optoelectronic devices is investigated. We fabricated photodiodes based on pentacene and PbS nanocrystals coupled to organic ligands like 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) and tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) and a combination of both, EDT and TBAI, as a heterostructure. These ligands were first separately used to fabricate single ligand-type of organic-inorganic devices and later compared with a heterostructure of PbS-EDT and PbS-TBAI. To tune the optical energy gap of COINs to align with the triplet level of pentacene, it was necessary to choose a suitable particle size. For this purpose, ultraviolet photo-emission spectroscopy (UPS) was used to determine the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the work function of COINs, while the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of COINs was estimated subsequently by adding the exciton binding energy and the optical band gap to the measured HOMO energy. Devices with heterostructure COINs achieve a higher short circuit current than COINs with a single type of the ligands. Finally, even if the requirements of proper energy level alignment are satisfied, the photodiodes' performance was affected by the morphology of COINs. This finding has been demonstrated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) shows a shift for the excitonic absorption peaks in the visible range at opposite applied voltages. The IPCE signal for the double heterostructure device is higher than the single type device.

Recently, more wind turbine systems are being installed in deep waters far from the coast. Several concepts of floating wind turbine systems (FWTSs) are developed, among which the semisubmersible platform, due to its applicability in different water depths, good hydrodynamic performance, and facility in the installation process, constitutes the most explored technology compared to the others. However, a significant obstacle to the industrialization of this technology is a design of a cost-effective FWTS, which can be achieved by optimizing the geometry, size and weight of the floating platform, along with the mooring system. This is only possible by selecting a method capable of accurately analyzing the FWTS coupled hydro-aero-structural dynamics at each design stage. Accordingly, this paper aims at providing a detailed overview of the most common coupled numerical and physical methods, including their basic assumptions, formulations, limitations, and costs, used for analyzing the dynamics of FWTSs, mainly those supported by a semisubmersible, to assist the choice of the most suitable method at each design phase of FWTSs. Finally, the article discusses possible future research to address challenges in modeling FWTSs dynamics that persist to date.

We discuss in detail a well known method for obtaining the frequencies of the normal modes of coupled harmonic oscillators that is based on the simultaneous diagonalization of two symmetric matrices. We apply it to some simple illustrative examples recently chosen for the presentation of an alternative approach based on a set of constants of the motion. We show that the traditional method is simpler, even in the case of equal frequencies. We also discuss a problem that commonly appears in elementary courses on quantum mechanics that also requires the diagonalization of two symmetric matrices.

The research investigated the relationship between burnout syndrome and the variables of mental resilience and quality and enjoyment of life, in Greek private and public sector workers (N=112), with demographic differences. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire which was distributed in the form of an electronic Microsoft forms. The questionnaire contained demographic questions, the psychometric tool Burnout Assessment Tool version 2.0 (Schaufeli et al., 2019), the psychometric tool Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) (Smith et al., 2008), and the psychometric tool Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q) (Endicott et al., 1993) which were used to measure the three variables examined by the research. For statistical analysis, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to test the relationship between two quantitative variables, while linear regression analysis was used to find independent factors. The main research hypothesis was verified, finding a negative correlation between burnout and the variables of mental resilience and quality of life, while it was identified that employees experienced greater exhaustion and spiritual withdrawal compared to freelancers. Hypotheses regarding age, educational level, and public-private job data were not verified as there were no statistically significant differences in demographic results.

This text mining study delves into the multifaceted contributions of the energy sector to the Sus-tainable Development Goals (SDGs). By analyzing a wide range of academic literature, we un-cover key themes, trends, and challenges shaping the intersection of energy and sustainability. The findings reveal that the energy sector plays a pivotal role in achieving SDGs such as affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) and climate action (SDG 13). Critical issues encompass governance, policy frameworks, and technological innovations. This research underscores the need for inter-disciplinary collaboration and holistic approaches in addressing complex energy-related sus-tainability challenges. The insights derived here provide guidance to policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders seeking to harness the energy sector's potential for a more sustainable and eq-uitable future.

The cell surface targeting of neo-synthesized G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) involves recruitment of receptor into COPII vesicles budding at Endoplasmic Reticulum Exit sites (ERES). This process is regulated for some GPCRs by escort proteins, which facilitate their export, or by gatekeepers that retain the receptors in the ER. PRAF2, an ER gatekeeper of the heterodimeric GABAB receptor protomer GB1, which interacts with a tandem di-leucine / RXR retention motif in the carboxyterminal tail of GB1, also inhibits the plasma membrane export of the chemokine receptor CCR5. PRAF2 / CCR5 interactions involve the transmembrane domains of both proteins. The di-leucine / RXR motif contained in the third intracellular loop of CCR5 does not affect PRAF2-mediated retention but impairs instead the interaction between CCR5 and its private escort protein CD4. PRAF2 and CD4 thus display opposite roles on the cell surface export of CCR5, likely at the level of its recruitment into COPII vesicles, PRAF2 inhibiting and CD4 promoting this process.

The transport sector is pivotal and indispensable in our daily existence, being the exclusive conduit for the intercontinental conveyance of commodities and individuals. Hence, comprehending the phenomenon of business failure within the transport industry assumes paramount significance in delineating an effective competitive policy for this sector. The primary objective of this research paper is to execute a comparative investigation between statistical models forecasting business failure and models founded on artificial intelligence, within the context of the transport sector. This analysis spans the temporal expanse from 2014 to 2021 and encompasses the nations of Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy, aiming to ascertain superior efficacy among these models. The dataset employed for this endeavor encompassed a final cohort of 4866 companies, comprising 2881 that endured as going concerns and 1985 that succumbed to business failure. The models developed for this study exhibited the capacity to accurately categorize a proportion of companies ranging from 71% to 73%. Nonetheless, upon comparative scrutiny of these outcomes with those derived from the statistical models dedicated to business failure prediction, it becomes evident that the latter demonstrate an enhanced predictive prowess, manifesting fewer errors in the classification of the scrutinized companies.

Climate change not only affects weather conditions, patterns, and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events but also changes how governments spend money. Agriculture is an important sector of the European Union (EU), and it is projected to decrease by 16% by 2050, therefore a third of the EU budget has been spent on agricultural funding, adaptation, and climate action. The effect of climate change on agriculture is mixed and dependent on the country and its location. The southern EU is adversely affected while the northern EU is positively affected by the changes in weather patterns. The main goal of this paper is to gain insight regarding the effect that climate change has on public spending in relation to the agricultural sector of the EU, by using the pooled OLS and GMM methods. The study concluded that agriculture has a significant impact on public spending in the southern countries of the EU, where it represents a significant portion of the GDP. Inflation influences public spending in the whole EU region, the northern and southern countries of the EU. Rain has a moderately significant impact on public spending in the whole EU region. It is advised that governments maintain a controllable level of inflation using fiscal and monetary policy that will implicitly control public spending.

Piceatannol (PIC), a natural analog of resveratrol, has various biological functions. We previously reported that PIC had an anti-obesity effect only in ovariectomized mice. While ovariectomized mice have low phosphorylation levels of hormone-sensitive lipase (pHSL) at Ser563, we found that PIC increased those levels. Here, we investigated the effect of PIC using 3T3-L1 adipocytes to clarify the mechanism by which PIC activates HSL. First, PIC was confirmed to induce HSL phosphorylation at Ser563 in 3T3-L1 cells as in vivo experiments showed. pHSL (Ser563) is believed to be activated through the β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) and protein kinase A (PKA) pathway; however, the addition of a selective inhibitor of β-AR did not inhibit the effect of PIC. The addition of PKA inhibitor with PIC blocked pHSL (Ser563), suggesting that PIC’s effects are mediated by PKA from a different pathway than β-AR. The addition of G15, a selective inhibitor of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), lowered HSL activation by PIC. Furthermore, PIC inhibited insulin signaling and did not induce pHSL (Ser565), which represents its inactive form. This study is the first to suggest that the GPER pathway might regulate HSL activation in adipocytes.

The coupled Dirac equations for solar e- and μ-neutrinos are solved in the presence of a small uniform interaction of the e-neutrinos with matter (the Sun). It is shown that the interaction leads to an increase of the amplitude of the neutrinos oscillations and a decrease of the lo- calization probability of the e-neutrinos. However, the strength of this interaction is insufficient to explain the magnitude of the discrepancy between the solar neutrino flux and the neutrino flux measured on the Earth. An alternative interpretation related to a possible superfluid neutrino state is advanced, which may throw some light on the solar neutrino problem.

As a service business models have been ranked by management consultants the management innovation of 2020, and yet are scarcely theorized. Therein, value stipulations in customer contracts lead to the shift from product to service. However, there is no available research about the nature, formula and decisional process about these value stipulations. The motive for this research is to fill in this gap. The goal is to provide first insight about value stipulations in as a service business models: their formula and decisional methodology. The article is a multiple theory building case study on leading platform as a service providers, which aims to contruct the paradigm of the value decision methodology to invest in this technology by purchasing it from dedicated vendors. The methodology works to identify the management instruments involved in the decisional activities to invest in digital technology, where each management instrument is assumed to match an activity at seller and buyer; the sequence of the activities using the Critical Path Method gives the decisional process. Dependent variables are the elements of the as a service business contracts: the customer offering (product-service solution) and the value created, captured and delivered by the solution. Independent variables are given by empirical data analysis. Findings show a relationship between dependent variable value in the as a service business model contracts and independent variables governance objective, strategy, as a service business model type, activity management techniques (roadmap, program, project, operations, lean start-up), capital allocation techniques (equity, debt, options, venture capital typology). If innovation is exploitative, then the customer offering is known and value is determinable via roadmap – project management techniques (program, project, an operations) and capital allocation techniques for precictable environment, If innovation is radical, then the customer offering is not known and value is a target used to architect the solution via lean start-up innovation techniques funded by venture capital. The contribution is a new theoretical construct and deep insight into the practice of digital transformation considering all inherent issues.

Based on the panel data from 31 provinces in China from 2012 to 2020, this paper uses the TOPSIS method to measure the development level of the digital economy and environmental quality. Then, a coupled coordination degree model is used to analyse the relationship between the digital economy and environmental quality. Kernel density estimation and the Dagum Gini coefficient method were used to reveal the dynamic evolution trend of the coupled coordination level between the digital economy and environmental quality and the regional trends of coupled indicators. Finally, the dynamics of the above relations were explored with an econometric model. The results show that the coupled coordination degree of the digital economy and environmental quality displays obvious regional heterogeneity, and the national coordination level exhibits dynamic convergence characteristics. The heterogeneity of the coupled coordination degree of the two systems in the eastern region has decreased year by year, except in the western region, the central region and the northeast region, where an upwards trend is observed. Overall, the Gini coefficient of the coupled coordination degree between the digital economy and environmental quality displays a certain downwards trend. The level of economic development, technological innovation level, industrial structure, degree of opening to the outside world, degree of environmental regulation, marketization index and financial development level have a positive influence on the coupled coordination of the digital economy and environmental quality. Environmental regulation is the core driver of the coupling of the two systems, and the economic development level, technological innovation level, industrial structure and degree of openness are the other major drivers. Therefore, in the processes of digital economy transformation and environmental governance, all regions should focus on balanced development between regions to optimize the overall efficiency of the two systems, consider external influence, enhance internal capabilities, and promote the coordination and co-development of the two systems.

The differential-equation of second order for space-time oscillation in flat tangential-spacetime of Minkowski-type can be written as an energy-equation. For this energy-equation the analogon of damping energy in two coupled Minkoswki-spacetimes with ftl can be calculated and formulated over Lamberts W-function or via Euler-equation.

A closed chain of oscillators can be considered as a model of ring-shaped ecosystems, such as atolls or coastal zones of inland reservoirs. As an oscillator model, we use the logistic map that often referred to as an archetypical example of how complex dynamics can arise from very simple nonlinear equations. We investigate the influence of the model parameters both on the nature of oscillations in the oscillator ring and on the spatial structures that arise in this case. Namely, we demonstrate a variety of emerging spatial structures depending on the initial conditions.

With the advent of digitization, the integration of advanced technologies in operations and projects across all sectors is in progress. Accordingly, efforts are being made to utilize cutting-edge technologies to improve the circularity of the built environment. This study aimed to review the existing applications and limitations of building information modeling (BIM) tools for circular economy (CE) implementation from this perspective. A literature review was conducted to provide an overview of the use of BIM tools for conducting life cycle assessments, energy analysis, waste management, and formulation of material passports for buildings. It was found that BIM tools, which are available across all life cycle phases of building, have a great potential to improve the circularity of the sector. The overview provided on the use of various BIM tools may help stakeholders of the built environment understand the role of BIM for CE adoption in the sector.

A mixture of nonlabeled (14N2H4) and 15N labeled hydrazine (15N2H4) in an aqueous solution is oxidized to 15N2, 14N2, and 14N15N molecules, indicating the intermediate existence of the 14NH2-14NH-15NH-15NH2 with subsequent hydrogen transfers and splitting of side N-N bonds. Structures, thermodynamics, and electron characteristics of various N4H6 molecules in aqueous solutions are investigated using theoretical treatment at the CCSD/cc-pVTZ level of theory to explain the crucial part of the hydrazine oxidation reaction. Most N4H6 structures in aqueous solutions are decomposed during geometry optimization. Splitting the bond between central nitrogen atoms is the most frequent, but the breakaway of the side nitrogen is energetically the most preferred. The N-N fissions are enabled by suitable hydrogen rearrangements. Gibbs free energy data indicate the dominant abundance of NH3... N2... NH3 species. The side N atoms have very high negative charges, which should support hydrogen transfers in aqueous solutions. The only stable cyclo-(NH)4…H2 structure has a too high Gibbs energy and breaks the H2 molecule. The remaining initial cyclic structures are split into hydrazine and HN≡NH or H2N≡N species, and their relative abundance in aqueous solutions is vanishing.

Thailand has formulated her climate change policy and updated relevant plans and policies to align with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality and net zero GHG emissions. This study investigates the optimal level of GHG mitigation in Thailand, taking into account the marginal abatement cost (MAC) and social cost of carbon (SCC). It evaluates how energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies influence GHG reduction in the power and industrial sector and illustrates policy recommendations that align with the 2020 to 2050 policy and plan period. The findings indicate that there may be instances where GHG mitigation potential is insufficient to reach the national mile-stone. In such cases, it becomes imperative to leverage all technologies within the marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) and also utilization of the social cost of carbon for policy decision making and meeting the desired goals. In certain scenarios, the adoption of additional technologies or measures may be necessary, such as flexible power generation and deploying carbon capture and storage or hydrogen which are high-cost technologies. Furthermore, preparations should be made for multiple levels of climate change policies and plans beyond 2030.

Resource conflicts represent a significant global challenge in regions abundant with natural re-sources. Modelling the myriad factors driving natural resource-based conflicts (NRBCs), spanning environmental, health, socio-economic, and political dimensions, is a complex endeavor exacer-bated by data scarcity. Furthermore, existing quantitative studies often focus solely on large-scale conflicts. This article introduces a novel algorithm, the Spatially Explicit Fuzzy Logic-Adapted Model for Conflict Management (SEFLAME-CM), which integrates the local knowledge of stakeholders into spatial decision-making technologies to support sustainable peace efforts. The results are validated with spatial multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) using spatial statistics. The Moran’s I scatter plots for the overall conflicts reveal significant values of 0.99 and 0.98 for both the SEFLAME-CM and SMCE, respectively, with significant spatial autocorrelation. While there re-mains room for improvement in enhancing the model's quality, SEFLAME-CM demonstrates its capacity to transparently model complex real-world problems. The findings underscore the im-perative for a holistic approach to addressing environmental degradation, socio-economic, and political drivers of resource conflicts at the community level. Our paper demonstrates the signif-icance of spatial information technologies and knowledge exchange between experts and local stakeholders in effectively managing resource conflicts. These insights should inform national policies and international interventions, ensuring that the complex underlying issues are ad-dressed while prioritizing the knowledge and needs of affected communities.

A promoting work for the elderly is an important way of empowering the participation of the elderly in society for economic development, which will lead to the well-being of the elderly. This is presented the policy proposal for elderly government officials employment in public sector organizations landscape study by policy research on EDFR which combines MACR, especially, elderly civil servants in public sector organizations of 56 - 60 years, and aged of 60 years to over, include the experts into the data. Comparing the employment forms elderly civil servants in public sector organizations of flexible employment and new employment models to differences at statistical significance level of 0.01, 0.05, respectively. Significance the policy proposal for elderly government officials employment at “Key” factors of the strategies, goals, measures, and operational guidelines to effectiveness.

The ultimate goal of this paper was to examine the degree of elasticity between two variables, namely, agricultural credit and agricultural growth, in Angola in the period 2003–2022. Time series data were fitted into the ARDL test using various econometric techniques such as the ADF stationarity test, Granger causality and the ordinary least squares method as well as a vector error correction model (VECM) to analyze the relationship between agricultural credit and agricultural economic growth, showing a causal relationship. Both the impacts through elasticities and the optimal point existing in this relationship were estimated. It was concluded that the impact of agricultural credit on agricultural GDP was 14.41%. Granger causality shows signs of a positive linkage between agricultural credit and agricultural GDP. However, there is a causal relationship between agricultural credit and agricultural GDP, in a unidirectional aspect. This result is consistent with most of the earlier studies reviewed in the literature, confirming that credit-oriented monetary policies can boost economic growth and, consequently, development in Angola. It is important for agricultural credit systems to be designed in a way that ensures equitable access, fair interest rates, and appropriate risk management mechanisms. Additionally, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be in place to assess the environmental and social impacts of credit programs on agricultural sustainability. It is worth noting that this is a first-of-a-kind study on the matter of the Angolan credit experience, specifically for the agricultural sector. Angola is still searching for a sustainable credit model that could be used as a catalyzer to boost growth and contribute to economic development.

Nigeria's upstream oil and gas sector is extensively contributing to the economic growth of the country, but the sector is plagued with challenges around corporate social responsibility (CSR) and taxation practices. Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is introduced to tackle these challenges towards promoting sustainable development in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to explore the PIA’s provisions on CSR and taxation, identify the Act’s implementation challenges and improvement opportunities, propose an integrated framework for monitoring and evaluating the PIA’s impact on CSR and taxation over time, and recommend measures for enhancing PIA’s impact on CSR and taxation support for sustainable development in Nigeria's upstream oil and gas sector. This study adopts the qualitative desk review method to analyze existent literature, reports, and documents regarding PIA’s provisions on CSR and taxation. Findings reveal that the PIA’s provisions greatly emphasize CSR initiatives and taxation transparency in improving responsible ethical business behaviour. An integrated framework for monitoring and evaluating PIA’s impact over time is developed. This study concludes that the PIA's provisions can balance CSR and taxation practices for sustainable development. The study’s recommendations include using the integrated framework as a structured strategy for monitoring and evaluating the PIA’s impact. This study contributes to the discussion on the imperatives of ethical business practices and regulatory frameworks for sustainable development drive in the oil and gas sector.

The main purpose of the work is to indicate the effects of the implementation of the concept of sustainable production from the perspective of the well-being of employees. The diagnosis was made among manufacturers operating in the sector of agricultural technical means of transport (production of parts and subassemblies). Achieving the main goal required the formulation and implementation of partial goals, which the authors included: (C1) analysis of the concept of sustainable production from the perspective of employees' well-being (theoretical plane); (C2) compiling a research model in the form of an evaluation sheet being the result of a literature query and an expert study (theoretical and design layer); attention was paid to the articulation of categories relevant to the content and scope of research; (C3) verification of the research model (indication of the effects of the implementation of the concept of sustainable production (the perspective of employee well-being) by the surveyed enterprises).

This paper describes the design and implementation of an ultrasonic non-contact air-coupled technique (UNCACT) using antisymmetric Lamb waves (ALW) for NDT assessment in novel composite sandwich plates of the car body shell. This technique is complemented with a C-Scan image implementation using this kind of guided waves. The finite element method using Comsol 6.1 is developed for the interpretation of the several wave modes presented in the experiments, including the ALW mode. The phase velocity method (PVM) is applied for the verification of the ALW mode in the portion of the RF signal necessary in the C-Scan image.

Quality of life (QOL) is based on their perception of their position in life in respect to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns, as well as their culture and value systems, their workflow and workplace situations while it influences quality of services. In this study we aim to report on dental and nursing academians’ QOL and well-being at the end of the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF Scale (WHOQOL-BREF) tool, recording Physical, Psychological, Social and Environmental dimensions of QOL, was used. The WHOQOL-BREF was modified on a spiritual, coaching/mentoring approach in a two-step designing and validated procedure. The modified SHQOL-BREF (Spiritual Healthcare version) designed for this study, was uploaded, and filled in online during April-June 2023. Staff (N=120, 75% female) of both departments of Dentistry (44.2%) and Nursing (55.8%) of the National and Kapodistrian university of Athens, participated in anonymity. QOL in terms of physical health was reported at a higher level (M=72.2 points) compared to social relationships (M=69 points), psychological health (M=65 points) and environment (M=59 points) (scores reported in 0-100 score). Overall QOL was rated at 66 points while satisfaction from health at 72 points. Job satisfaction (M1=3.2) and spirituality (M2=3.0) were reported at a medium level in a 5-point scale, while personal beliefs and values were reported at a high level (M3=4.0). Participants age presented a significant, moderate to strong effect on physical health [F(3,97)=2.89, p<.05, η2p=.08] and on environment [F(3,97)=2.80, p<.05, η2p=.08] and marital status on social relationships [F(1,97)=9.66, p<.05, η2p=.09]. Married participants reported consistently higher levels of QOL compared to single participants, for all age groups. Department had a significant moderate effect on social relationships (F(1,97)=5.10, p<.05, η2p=.05) and education a significant moderate to strong effect on psychological health (F(2,97)=3.74, p<.05, η2p=.07). PhD level participants in both departments presented higher levels of psychological health compared to lower educational levels. Also, participants from the department of Dentistry reported higher levels of social relationships QOL in all educational groups, compared to the department of Nursing. Strategic planning on sustainability and QOL initiatives should be introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic for dental and nursing academic personnel to promote resilience and QOL scores.

SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination can entail chronic fatigue/dis-autonomy tentatively termed post-acute COVID-19 vaccination syndrome (PACVS). We explored receptor autoantibodies and interleukin-6 (IL-6) as somatic correlates of PACVS. Blood markers determined before and six months after first-time SARS-CoV-2-vaccination of healthy controls (N = 89, 71 females, mean/ median age 39/ 49 years) were compared with corresponding values of PACVS-affected persons (N= 191, 159 females, mean/median age: 40/39 years) exhibiting chronic fatigue/dis-autonomy (≥ three symptoms for ≥ five months after last SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination) not due to SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or confounding diseases/medications. Normal vaccination response encompassed decreases of 11 receptor-antibodies (by 25 - 50 %, p < 0.0001), increases in two receptor-antibodies (by 15 - 25 %, p < 0.0001) and normal IL-6. In PACVS, serological vaccination-response appeared significantly (p < 0.0001) altered, allowing discrimination from normal post-vaccination state (sensitivity = 90%, p &lt; 0.0001) by increased angiotensin II type 1 receptor antibodies (cut-off ≤ 10.7 U/ml, ROC-AUC = 0.824 ± 0.027), decreased alpha-2B adrenergic receptor antibodies (cut-off ≥ 25.2 U/ml, ROC-AUC = 0.828 ± 0.025) and increased IL-6 (cut-off ≤ 2.3 pg/ml, ROC-AUC = 0.850 ± 0.022). PACVS is thus indicated as a somatic syndrome delineated/detectable by diagnostic blood markers

Recent advancements in the study of the protein complex photosystem II have clarified the sequence of events leading to the formation of oxygen during the S3->S4->S0 tran-sition, wherein the inorganic Mn4Ca(µ-O)6(OHx)4 cluster finishes photo-catalyzing the water splitting reaction (Greife et al, Nature 2023, 617, 623-628; Bhowmick et al, Nature 2023, 617, 629-636) . During this final step a tyrosine radical (TyrZ), stable for a couple of milliseconds, oxidizes a cluster bound oxygen while the hydrogen bonding patterns of nearby waters shift a proton away. A treatment of this redox reaction within the context of accepted transition state theories predicts rate constants that are significantly higher than experimentally recovered values (10^12s^-1 versus 10^3s^-1). In an effort to understand this disparity, temperature dependent experiments have revealed large entropic con-tributions to the rates with only a moderate energy of activation. We suggest that the entropic source may be related to the observed proton rearrangements, and further possible near isoenergetic variations in the nearby extended h-bonding network de-laying the realization of an ‘ideal’ transition state. In the following we explore this re-lation in the context of Eyring’s transition state theory and Marcus’ electron transfer theory, and evaluate their compatibility with the experimental evidence.

The physicochemical treatment/recovery techniques, including precipitation, membrane technology, solvent extraction, foam fractionation, adsorption, and aqueous two-phase systems, will be reviewed. The bio-treatment processes, based on microorganisms and/or enzymes consuming nutrients available in food-processing wastewater as low-cost substrates to produce valuable products, will be discussed in detail, including the production of microalga biomass in wastewater treatment systems. Finally, future research direction will be proposed to integrate the circular economy and develop integrated food processing wastewater management systems.

This paper proposes a novel symmetrical active-switched coupled-inductor high-step-up DC/DC converter. A new active-switched coupled inductor is used to allow much higher voltage gain of the proposed converter. The symmetrical circuit structure of the proposed converter evenly divides large input currents and reduce input current ripple by operating in interleaved mode so power density is increased. The switches also have low voltage stress. The operating principle and design considerations for the converter topology are described. The proposed converter with an input voltage of 40 V, an output voltage of 400 V and an output of 1000 W at a switching frequency of 50 kHz is implemented. The simulations and experimental results are thus depicted to verify the theoretical analysis. The highest efficiency is 95.5% at 200 W measured by using a HIOKI 3390. Consequently, the proposed converter is suitable for renewable energy generation systems that require high power, high voltage gain and high efficiency.

Abstract Introduction. Burnout syndrome develops as a consequence of chronic stress among employees. The study objectives were to examine burnout syndrome and to evaluate the quality of life among security employees of the professional private security sector in Central Serbia. Methods. A multicenter cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed. The questionnaire for staff employed at institutions who are in direct contact with people (Human Services Survey, MBI-HSS) and Short Form 36 Health Survey-(SF-36). Results. A total of 353 respondents participated in the study. The response rate was 80%. Approximately one-third (32.6%) had symptoms of total burnout, and a much higher number of responders had a moderate or high level of burnout on individual subscales:- depersonalization (high 82.4%, moderate 16.2%) and emotional exhaustion (high 66.3%, moderate 19.8%) and, slightly more than one-third (34.5%) had low personal achievement, while about one-third (32.9%) had moderate personal achievement. Female sex and older age were associated with a higher risk of total burnout and the development of emotional exhaustion. Male sex, higher education, and managerial position were associated with higher personal achievement and lower risk of total burnout. Male sex, marital union, two or more children, and direct contact with clients were significantly associated with a lower quality of life of employees. Conclusion. Female sex and older age were associated with a higher risk of total burnout and the development of emotional exhaustion. Male sex, university education and managerial position were associated with greater personal achievement and were protective factors in relation to the development of burnout. Male sex, marital union, two or more children, and direct contact with clients were significantly associated with lower quality of life of employees. Keywords: burnout syndrome; security employees; professional private sector; quality of life

This is a case study in the domain of public sector management or management in government, with particular reference to education as a sector as a whole. Bangladesh has shown persistent upward trends in development indicators during the last four decades. In the education sector also, many indicators improved - literacy, the female proportion of literacy, number of educational institutions, etc. Quantity wise investment and indicators increased and improved at all levels and dimensions like primary, secondary, tertiary, technical, and so on. But qualitative improvement remained mysteriously low, despite government intention to increase quality of teaching, learning, and administration. This paper aimed to draw an overall picture of qualitative scenario of the education sector. Analyzing secondary sources like public media, and primary sources like citizen interactions, this qualitative study consolidated the problems of the education sector in a coherent whole. It argues that many problems of education sector are not education problems or budget problems, rather purely and simply ‘management’ problems, and so, can effectively be solved with basic but thorough understanding of the basic technicalities of management as a discipline.

Purpose: When it comes to improving citizen service delivery standard and processes, or broadly, management in government (MIG), many reform programs and improvement efforts are ongoing across different ministries, departments, and agencies. This paper is part of a larger empirical research where we are interested to know what those programs and projects are, and how they are doing, and what the gaps are. Design/methodology/approach: Analyzing the publicly available data on the government portal and donors’ website, this article provides an overall idea of current reforms in various places of government. In parallel, field research was conducted through visiting agency offices, observing office environment and mechanisms, and interviewing public managers who are working at district and sub-district level offices of directorates or agencies.Findings: As a trend, state-led development process and the traditional mode of administration have moved to New Public Management based quality and performance approach. All donors have their own strategy framework document like ‘Country Assistance strategy’, ‘Country Operations and Business Plan’, Logical Framework Document, Focus or Priority Streams, etc. Many of the projects are sectoral and agency or ministry specific and have an inherent limitations, due to ‘cadre’ based organizational structural arrangement. So, it is common ‘not to own the projects’, rather ‘using the fund as much as possible anyway within the given project duration’. When the fund ends, implementing units, either government or NGOs, abandon the projects. That is why many projects are actually half done without significant and sustained direction.Originality/value: We can conclude that the typical ‘top-down’ or ‘trickle down’ conception is still dominant in design and implementation of reforms programs and service quality efforts. So, how to reach systemically at the bottom where public managers provide services to citizens, needs even more deliberation.

In this study, we reported that novel single-chain fusion-proteins linked thromboxane A2 (TXA2) receptor (TP) to a selected G-protein α-subunit q (SC-TP-Gαq), or s (SC-TP-Gαs) could be stably expressed in megakaryocytes (MK). We tested the MK-released platelet-linked particles (PLPs) to be used as a vehicle to deliver the over-expressed SC-TP-Gαq), or s (SC-TP-Gαs) to regulate human platelet function. To understand how the single-chain TP-Gα fusion proteins could regulate opposite platelet activities by an identical ligand TXA2, we used dual-binding domains linked to different signaling pathways within a single polypeptide chain using a 3D structural model. The immature MKs were cultured and transfected with cDNAs constructed from structural models of the individual SC-TP-Gαq and SC-TP-Gαs, respectively. After transient expression was identified, the immature MKs stably expressing SC-TP-Gαq or SC-TP-Gαs (stable cell lines) were selected. The stable cell lines were induced into mature MKs which released PLPs. Western blot analysis confirmed that the released PLPs were carrying the recombinant SC-TP-Gαq or SC-TP-Gαs. Flow cytometry analysis showed the PLPs carrying SC-TP-Gαq were able to perform the activity by promoting platelet aggregation. In contrast, PLPs carrying SC-TP-Gαs reversed Gq to Gs signaling to inhibit platelet aggregation. This is the first time demonstrating that SC-TP-Gαq and SC-TP-Gαs were successfully overexpressed in MK cells and released as PLPs with proper folding. This bio-engineering led to the formation of two sets of biologically active PLP forms, which mediate calcium and cAMP signaling, respectively. As a result, these PLPs are able to bind to identical endogenous TXA2 with opposite activities, inhibiting and promoting platelet aggregation as required for therapeutic process.The results also demonstrated the nucleus-free PLPs could be used to deliver recombinant membrane-bound GPCRs to regulate cellular activity in general.

Object-level Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) has gained popularity in recent years since it can provide a means for intelligent robot-to-environment interactions. However, most of these methods assume that the distribution of the errors is gaussian. This assumption is not valid under many circumstances. Further, these methods use a delayed initialization of the objects in the map. During this delayed period, the solution relies on the motion model provided by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Unfortunately, the errors tend to accumulate quickly due to the dead-reckoning nature of these motion models. Finally, the current solutions depend on a set of salient features on the object’s surface and not the object’s shape. This research proposes an accurate object-level solution to the SLAM problem with a 4.1 to 13.1 cm error in the position (0.005 to 0.021 of the total path). The developed solution is based on Rao-blackwellized Particle Filtering (RBPF) that does not assume any predefined error distribution for the parameters. Further, the solution relies on the shape and thus can be used for objects that lack texture on their surface. Finally, the developed tightly coupled IMU/camera solution is based on an undelayed initialization of the objects in the map.

Comparisons of power flows and efficiencies in two structurally quite similar cylindrical series-parallel planetary gear systems (PGSs) were performed in three separate parts of this paper. Each of these single degree of freedom (DoF) systems consists of three different 2KH subsystems connected in series-parallel. The main goal was to prove that apart from complex, structurally and dynamically coupled PGSs, there are also complex and only structurally coupled PGSs, in which the phenomenon of power flow circulation inside closed loops does not occur. Such a half-coupled type of PGS is herein called pseudo-coupled. Therefore, Part I discusses in detail the geometry, kinematics and statics of coupled PGSs in order to determine power flow paths. A comparison of the directions of power flow in both types of PGSs can be made in Part II after determining the power flow paths in the second planetary gear in a similar way. The directions of power flow in both types of PGSs were determined in a relatively simple way, thanks to the distinction between active and passive torques and thus active and passive shafts of individual subsystems. The efficiency comparison made in Part III will show whether power circulation has an influence on the efficiency value, at least in these two types of PGSs.

In the last decades, studies on the inflammatory signaling pathways in multiple pathological contexts revealed new targets for novel therapies. Among the family of G-protein-coupled Proteases Activated Receptors, PAR2 was identified as a driver of the inflammatory cascade in many pathologies, ranging from autoimmune disease to cancer metastasis. For this reason, many efforts have been focused on the development of potential antagonists of PAR2 activity. This work focuses on a small molecule, 1-Piperidine Propionic Acid (1-PPA), previously described to be active against inflammatory processes, but whose target is still unknown. Stabilization effects observed by cellular thermal shift assay coupled to in-silico investigations, including molecular docking and Molecular Dynamics simulations, suggested that 1-PPA binds PAR2 in an allosteric pocket of the receptor inactive conformation. In addition, this compound was found able to inhibit platelet aggregation, a process mediated by PAR family members, including PAR2. Since the allosteric pocket binding 1-PPA is highly conserved in all the members of the PAR family, the evidence reported here suggests that 1-PPA could represent a promising new small molecule targeting PARs with antagonistic activity.

Blatter radicals 1-(3,4-difluorophenyl)- (1a) and 1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-phenyl-1,4-dihydrobenzo[e][1,2,4]triazin-4-yl (1b) were prepared in good yields through oxidation of the corresponding amidrazones using MnO2 in dry CH2Cl2. Cyclic voltammetry showed that both radicals are oxidized and reduced chemically and electrochemically reversibly in accordance with –1/0 and 0/+1 processes. EPR spectroscopy indicated that spin density is mainly delocalized on the triazinyl moiety of the heterocycle. Structure of all paramagnets was unambiguously confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and two different 1D chains of alternating radicals were identified. 3,4-Difluorophenyl-derivatives 1a are packed into columns composed of two kinds of alternating centrosymmetric dimers, having comparatively short intermolecular distances. In crystals of 2,4-difluorophenyl-derivative 1b, the parallel arrangement of bicyclic moieties and phenyl rings favors the formation of 1D regular chains wherein the radicals are related by translation parallel to the crystallographic stacking axis. Magnetic susceptibility measurements in the 2–300 K region showed that in crystals of the radicals, strong antiferromagnetic interactions are dominant. Subsequent fitting of the dependence of T on T with 12-membered looped uniform stacks gave the following best-fit parameters: for 1a, g = 2.01 ± 0.05, J/kB = –292 ± 10 K; for 1b, g = 2.04 ± 0.1J/kB = –222 ± 17 K. For comparison, in a nonfluorinated related radical, there are only very weak intermolecular interactions along the columns (J/kB = –2.2 ± 0.2 K). These results illustrate the magnitude of the influence of the fluorine atoms introduced into Blatter radicals on their structure and magnetic properties.

In times of water scarcity, water conservation measures from authorities are primarily directed to the residential sector—homeowners and renters who engage in individual activities to reduce water consumption. Business owners, manufacturers, and institutional workers—the ICI sector, generally, do not receive targeted information and education on water savings measures, and when they do, the information, typically, refers to indoor technologies, and behavior choice. In answer to this shortfall, this research illustrates how the ICI sector might engage in outdoor water conservation and, thus, realize water savings using the well-established Pittenger’s Simplified Landscape Irrigation Design Estimation (SLIDE) formula that estimates outdoor water conservation/savings for the lesser studied industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) sector. We applied the SLIDE formula five diverse climate areas in Texas to demonstrate the potential water savings in each, as well as identifying the type of water technology measures that yielded the greatest water savings for outdoor ICI landscapes. Overall, the greatest water savings for outdoor ICI landscapes was realized through smartscape design with soil moisture sensors-SMS technology, second best. Our findings will provide ICI facility owners/managers with knowledge and examples of a simplified system for quantitative decision making when considering choices among technologies and/or practices toward outdoor water conservation for their own facilities.

In this paper, we succeed to discover the new exact wave solutions to the truncated M-fractional complex three coupled Maccari’s system by utilizing the Sardar sub-equation scheme. The obtained solutions are in the form of trigonometric and hyperbolic forms. These solutions have many applications in nonlinear optics, fiber optics, deep water-waves, plasma physics, mathematical physics, fluid mechanics, hydrodynamics and engineering where the propagation of nonlinear waves is important. Achieved solutions are verified with the use of Mathematica software. Some of the achieved solutions are also described graphically by 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional and contour plots with the help of Maple software. The gained solutions are helpful for the further development of concerned model. Finally, this technique is simple, fruitful and reliable to handle the nonlinear FPDEs.

This study aims to identify the optimal combination of microphysics (MP) and cumulus (CU) parameterization schemes for accurately simulating heavy to violet rainfall events associated with Tropical Cyclones (TCs) and atmospheric disturbances in Thailand using the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Regional Oceanic Model (ROMS), hereafter referred to as WRF-ROMS. Three CU schemes, namely Betts–Miller–Janjic (BMJ), Grell 3D Ensemble (G3), and Kain–Fritsch (KF), along with three MP schemes, namely Eta (ETA), Purdue Lin (LIN), and WRF Single-moment 3-class (WSM3), are selected for the sensitivity analysis. Seven instances of heavy to violent rainfall in Thailand, occurring during summer season of 2020 and associated with tropical storms and atmospheric disturbances, are simulated using all possible combinations of the chosen physics schemes. The simulated rain intensities are compared against observations from the National Hydroinformatics Data Center. Performance was assessed using the Probability of Detection (POD), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), and Critical Success Index (CSI) metrics. The models showed proficiency in predicting light to moderate rainfall, with certain combinations performing better in specific rainfall categories. However, forecasting heavy and violent rainfall proved challenging for all models and lead-time forecasts. Specific combinations, particularly those incorporating the KF scheme, demonstrated superior prediction of heavy to violent rainfall. The FAR values increased with lead-time and rain intensity, and the KF scheme combinations showed improved predictions of intense rainfall with lower FAR values. The CSI values indicated comparable performance between the control model and combination models across light to heavy rain categories, with the KF scheme showing better predictions for longer lead-times. However, accurately predicting intense rainfall remained limited. These findings highlight the need for further improvements, including refining model parameters and exploring advanced techniques to enhance accuracy and skill, particularly for longer-term forecasts. Sub-seasonal to seasonal prediction should be considered to extend forecast capabilities.

The airline sector is critical in today's globalized society, supporting the efficient movement of people and products worldwide. Airlines are continuously looking for methods to enhance their operational performance to remain competitive in the face of increased competition. This study focuses on the application of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques to improve low-cost carrier (LCC) also known or low-cost (budget) airlines' ground operational performance. MCDM techniques have gained considerable attention in recent years to address complex decision problems with multiple conflicting goals. This research aims to bridge this gap by proposing a comprehensive framework that combines MCDM techniques to enhance airline operational strategies to increase performance. The study utilizes qualitative and quantitative data, drawing on previously published materials on MCDM techniques in the aviation sector. It utilizes fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methodologies. A case study is conducted to evaluate the ground operational performance of three airline companies based in Türkiye, considering five main criteria and 18 sub-criteria. The findings of this research will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of operational performance in the airline sector. It also highlights the implications and limitations of the research and suggests future research directions.

Background: Frail elderly patients are exposed to suffering the consequences of heart diseases that are not managed timely such as receiving anticoagulation to prevent stroke associated to atrial fibrillation (AF). Referral to the cardiological outpatient department can be cumbersome as it often requires repeated visits. The aim of this project was to use AF as a showcase to develop and implement CardioShare, a shared-care model where primary care leads patient management, using an easy-to-use compact Holter monitor device with asynchronous remote support from cardiologists. Methods: This complex intervention has been developed during a feasibility phase, tested in a pragmatic cluster-randomization trial (primary care clinic as clusters) and its implementation potential evaluated with an escalation test. Mixed methods were used to evaluate the impact of the intervention, comprising quantitative observations, semi-structured interviews, and workshops. Results: Between February 2020 and December 2021, 314 patients (30% frail) were included of whom 75% had AF diagnosed/not found within 13 days. More than 80% in both groups avoided referral to cardiologists. Patients felt safe and primary care clinicians satisfied. In the escalation test, 58 primary-care doctors used CardioShare to manage 93 patients over three months with remote support from four hospitals in the Capital Region of Denmark. Conclusions: CardioShare was successfully implemented for AF evaluation in primary care.

The service sector, whose value has started to increase in recent years, has gained momentum with the acceleration of economic developments especially after the 2000s in Turkey. In a world where competition is increasing and social purchase perception is changing, companies started to differentiate in the service sector to create a competitive advantage. Companies that would like to grow in the industry and aspire to a greater proportion need credit to extend. There are many factors to consider in order to allocate the credit. Banks make financial and non-financial analysis to make credit decisions. This study has been prepared to assess the effect of financial and non-financial features of middle segment companies that need credit in the service sector on the credit decision to be allocated by banks. The group of variables that explain the credit decision at the highest level in these companies are non-financial variables.

An efficient design method is proposed for a compact common-mode rejection (CMR) filter utilizing dumbbell-shaped defected ground (DS-DG) structures and gap-coupled stub (GCS) resonators. A CMR filter for differential lines helps to improve the signal integrity of high-speed digital signals on printed circuit boards. The proposed CMR filter design is based on the equivalent circuit models, while the previous designs depended heavily on the DS-DG structure optimization using the EM simulations. The proposed CMR filter effectively reject the common-mode components with minimally affecting the differential signals. To prove the simplified design approach, a 5th-order Chebyshev band-stop filter has been designed with three DS-DG structures and two GCS resonators. From the simulated and measured results, it is found that the proposed CMR filter provides ~90% fractional frequency bandwidth with more than 20 dB of common-mode rejection ratio and less than 0.6 dB of insertion loss of the differential signal.

Background. Private security refers to the security protection services that private security organizations provide to control crimes, protect lives and other assets, and to maintain order at their employers’ facilities. The objective of the study was to analyze the burnout syndrome and the quality of life among security employees of the professional private security sector in Central Serbia. Methods. A multicenter cross-sectional questionay-based study was performed in seven different cities in central Serbia. The study included the representative sample of security staff employed. The study was performed in the period from March 3, 2019 to April 30, 2019. Results. A total of 353 respondents (330 male and 23 female) participated in the study. The Response rate was 80%. Men were significantly older than women: 44.09±11.44 vs. 36.91±7.92 (F=8.752; p=0.003). Approximately one third (32.6%) had symptoms of total burnout and a much higher number of responders had moderate or high level of burnout in individual subscales; in emotional exhaustion (high 66.3%, moderate 19.8%), in depersonalisation (high 82.4%, moderate 16.2%) and slightly more than one third 34.5% had low personal achievement, about one third 32.9% had moderate personal achievement. Our study has shown that female sex and older age were associated with higher risk of total burnout and for the development of emotional exhaustion. Male sex, university education and managerial position were associated with higher personal achievement and lower risk of of total burnout because this subscale is inversely correlated with the burnout. Male sex, marritual union, two and more childreen and direct contact with clients were significantly associated with lower quality of life of employees. Conclusion. Nearly one third (32.6%) of security employees had symptoms of total burnout. Female sex and older age were associated with higher risk of total burnout and for the development of emotional exhaustion. Male sex and higher level of education were associated with greater personal achievement. Managerial position and higher education were protective factors in relation to the development of burnout. Male sex, marritual union, two and more childreen, direct contact with clients were significantly associated with lower quality of life of employees. security staff, professional private sector, quality of life

Protons are gaining increasing attention as neurotransmitters due to their extraordinary abilities to rapidly transfer electrical charge, mobilize cellular calcium and modulate ion channels. How all this is possible is currently the subject of in-depth studies and discussions concerning not only neurophysiology, but also biological materials for artificial intelligence. In this short review, some biochemical mechanisms are described by which protons, in combination with calcium, can initiate firing in sensory neurons and transmit impulse across synapses. Furthermore, mechanisms are put forward concerning how three neurotransmitters, glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid and acetylcholine, are able to generate protons. The results of the numerous experimental works taken into consideration indicate that protons can play a fundamental role both in the generation and in the transmission of the nerve impulse.

Practical entanglement distillation is a critical component in quantum information theory. Entanglement distillation is often utilized for designing quantum computer networks and quantum repeaters. The practical entanglement distillation problem is formulated as a bilevel optimization problem. A fuzzy formulation is introduced to estimate the quantum state (density matrix) from pseudo-likelihood functions (i.e., quantum state tomography). A scale-independent relationship between fuzzy relations in terms of the pseudo-likelihood functions is obtained. The entanglement distillation optimization problem was solved using the combined coupled map lattice and dual annealing approach. Comparative analysis of the results is then conducted against a standard dual annealing algorithmic implementation.

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

We used an ultrasensitive, broadband optomechanical ultrasound sensor to study the acoustic signals produced by pressurized nitrogen escaping from a variety of small syringes. Harmonically related jet tones extending into the MHz region were observed for a certain range of flow (i.e., Reynolds number), in qualitative agreement with historical studies on gas jets emitted from pipes/orifices of much larger dimensions. For higher turbulent flow rates, we observed broadband ultrasonic emission in the ~ 0 – 5 MHz range, likely limited on the upper end by attenuation in air. These observations are made possible by the broadband, ultrasensitive response (for air-coupled ultrasound) of our optomechanical devices. Aside from their theoretical interest, our results could have practical implications for the non-contact monitoring and detection of early-stage leaks in pressured fluid systems.

Proactivity is a particularly important attribute of knowledge-intensive organizations, where the work required to increase the potential of knowledge-intensive employees is crucial. A priority challenge for these firms is also to understand the increasing importance of the functioning of cognitive mechanisms leading to increased knowledge workers' well-being following the implementation of the psychological contract. The aim of this article is to identify the relationship between inclusive leadership, the fulfillment of the psychological contract, two dimensions of well-being: workplace and life well-being and knowledge workers' proactivity. Based on survey data collected through the CAWI method from 1.000 knowledge workers employed in Polish companies in the business services sector, the research hypotheses were tested using a stepwise equation modelling (SEM) technique, leading to a model containing all the main constructs. The results obtained indicate that inclusive leadership positively impacts the fulfillment of the psychological contract. Furthermore, the fulfillment of the psychological contract positively affects proactive working behavior with and the wellbeing of knowledge workers. Along with proactive work behavior, two dimensions of well-being, were examined as outcome variables. The analysis also shows that knowledge-intensive organizations, intending to build the proactivity of their employees and nurture a high level of well-being in their lives and in the workplace, should take care to fulfil the expectations and obligations of the psychological contract. However, one way to achieve this is for managers to use an inclusive management style, which supports an atmosphere of a safe working environment in a diverse setting and leads to employees feeling comfortable sharing their opinions and ideas. The study of inclusive leadership in the context of knowledge-intensive organizations provides human resource professionals and employee man-agers with important insights into how inclusive leadership can effectively contribute to the psychological contract, which will consequently lead to proactive work behavior and also improve employees' workplace and life well-being.

In this study, we focus on the effects of fuel bed representation and fire heat and smoke distribution in a coupled fire-atmosphere simulation platform for two landscape-scale fires: the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2021 Caldor Fire. The fuel bed representation in the coupled fire-atmosphere simulation platform WRF-Fire currently includes only surface fuels. Thus, we enhance the model by adding canopy fuel characteristics and heat release, for which a method to calculate the heat generated from canopy fuel consumption is developed and implemented in WRF-Fire. Furthermore, the current WRF-Fire heat and smoke distribution in the atmosphere is replaced with a heat-conserving Truncated Gaussian (TG) function and its effects are evaluated. The simulated fire perimeters of case studies are validated against semi-continuous, high-resolution fire perimeters derived from NEXRAD radar observations. Furthermore, simulated plumes of the two fire cases are compared to NEXRAD radar reflectivity observations followed by buoyancy analysis using simulated temperature and vertical velocity fields. The results show that while the improved fuel bed and the TG heat release scheme have small effects on the simulated fire perimeters of the wind-driven Camp Fire, they affect the propagation direction of the plume-driven Caldor Fire, leading to better-matching fire perimeters with the observations. However, the improved fuel bed representation together with the TG heat smoke release scheme leads to more realistic plume structure in comparison to the observations in both fires. The buoyancy analysis also depicts more realistic fire-induced temperature anomalies and atmospheric circulation when the fuel bed is improved.

The aim of this study was to investigate the work engagement and burnout in healthcare professionals in a private health unit in Greece. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 151 professionals (doctors, nurses, administrative staff and professionals of other specialties). The questionnaire included demographic and work-related information and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Analysis was performed by SPSS v.26. With regard to the work engagement, the participants presented a medium score in absorption and a medium to high score in vigor and dedication. In addition, they presented low score in depersonalization, a medium score in emotional exhaustion and a high score in personal accomplishment. Those who had a working contract for an indefinite period had higher score in all the dimensions of burnout. Vigor, dedication and absorption were negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and positively with personal accomplishment. Healthcare professionals in private health sector in Greece present moderate work engagement and experience moderate levels of burnout. Work engagement is associated with burnout and plays an important role in its prevention. There are some significant differences in work engagement and burnout based on several demographic and work-related characteristics.

Through this study, we established equations for estimating the standing tree carbon stock, based on 24 tree species in multiple size classes in a case study at the Ngao Demonstration Forest (NDF) in northern Thailand. Four hundred thirty-nine wood samples from trees in mixed deciduous forest (MDF), dry dipterocarp forest (DDF), and dry evergreen forest (DEF), were collected using non-destructive methods to estimate above-ground carbon equations through statistical regression. The equations were established based on four criteria: 1) the coefficient of determination (R2), 2) Standard error of estimate (SE), 3) F-value, and 4) Significant value (p-value, α ≤ 0.05). The above-ground carbon stock (C) equations for standing trees in the MDF was C = 0.0199DBH2.1887H0.5825, for DDF was C = 0.0145DBH2.1435 H0.748, for DEF was C = 0.0167DBH2.1423H0.7070, and the general equation for all species/wood density groups was C = 0.017543DBH2.1625H0.6614, where DBH is tree diameter at breast height and H is tree total height. The above-ground carbon stock in the DDF, MDF, and DEF was 142, 53.02, and, 12 tons/ha, respectively, and the estimated above-ground carbon stock in the Mae Huad sector at the NDF was 61 tons/ha.

Until 2021, in the Kyrgyz Republic, tuberculosis(TB) was diagnosed and treated only in the public sector. With funding support of the STOP-TB partnership, the private providers in four regions of the country and Bishkek city were mapped, trained and incentivized to screen for, identify presumptive TB patients, and refer them to the public facilities for diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we describe the cascade of care of such patients. This was a cohort study involving secondary analysis of routine data. Of 79,352 patients screened during February 2021-March 2022, 2,511(3%) had presumptive TB, of whom, 903(36%) were not tested for TB [pre-diagnostic loss-to-follow-up]. A total of 323(13%) patients were diagnosed as TB, of whom, 42(13%) were not started on treatment [pre-treatment loss-to-follow-up]. Among 257 patients eligible for outcome assessment, 197(77%) had treatment success, 29(11%) were lost-to-follow-up, 13(5%) died, 4(2%) had treatment failure and 14(5%) were not evaluated. While this donor-funded, pioneering initiative was successful in engaging the private sector, we recommend the national TB programme to scale-up the initiative nationally with dedicated budgets, activities and plans to monitor the progress. Qualitative research is urgently needed to understand the reasons for the gaps in the care cascade.

In this study novel recommendations are presented and substantiated for selecting the number of modes and optical thicknesses of flat lattice slabs that make up the microreliefs, which minimize the computational complexity of the rigorous coupled-wave analysis calculation of the diffraction efficiency (DE) of a sawtooth two-layer two-relief microstructure, while maintaining the specified reliability of the calculation results. The computational complexity can be controlled by allowing one or another level of oscillation of the DE curves depend on the angle of incidence of the radiation incident on the microstructure. In particular, the complexity of the multi-thousand DE calculations in the optimization process can be reduced by using the proposed methodology as well as increased computational complexity to certify the accuracy of the solution obtained as a result of implemented optimization.

Nowadays, power sector is an area that gather great scientific interest, due to events such as the increase in electricity prices in the wholesale energy market and new investments due to technological development in various sectors. These new challenges have in turn created new needs, such as the accurate prediction of the electrical load of the end users. On the occasion of the new challenges, Artificial Neural Networks approaches have become increasingly popular due to their ability to adopt efficiently to time-series predictions. In this paper, it is presented the development of a model which, through an automated process, will provide an accurate prediction of electrical load for the island of Thira in Greece. Through an automated application, deep learning load forecasting models have been created, such as Multilayer Perceptron, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Convolutional Neural Network One Dimensional (CNN-1D), CNN-LSTM, Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) and a proposed hybrid model called Convolutional LSTM Encoder-Decoder. The results in terms of prediction accuracy show satisfactory performances for all models, with the proposed hybrid model achieving the best accuracy.

Lately Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Galium Nitride (GaN) based high frequency power conversion has gained immense popularity which stems from relatively low switching energy, robustness to high temperature operation, wide-band gap and superior thermal limits. While this aspect inherently results in a high-density power stage design, the design of adjoining passive components, particularly magnetics, needs careful attention. This is especially true if the compatibility of core and winding options and their performance is limited with the use of higher switching frequency. In this regard, this paper presents a brief review of existent research conducted in materials, optimization and integration of magnetics for single and three phase applications, ranging from filters, resonant inductors to isolation transformers. Design knobs pertaining to medium voltage (MV) applications, low-voltage (LV) applications, e-mobility sector such as more electric aircrafts (MEAs) and electric vehicles (EVs) are discussed. Guidelines for magnetics design are summarized for each application with a projected roadmap on future trend for magnetics.

China's gradually increasing assertiveness at the international level marked the beginning of several influential geopolitical projects. The biggest of these is the Belt and Road Initiative, which will be the subject of this post. The Chinese government initiated the BRI in 2013 to revive the historic Silk Road. The name of the new initiative was chosen based on well-known historical parallels, emphasizing the ideological component of China's current position. At the same time, neo-mercantilism prevails in China, and we can say that all roads lead to China, which means that the current nature of Chinese strategic planning corresponds to the increasingly important role of the state in international relations and strengthens its position in the world economy. The aim of the paper is to use the methods of analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, comparison, and explanation to analyse Chinese investments that flow into various sectors worldwide, but especially into the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative from 2013 to the present. The largest such sector is the energy sector, which we will look at in more detail in the post. Finally, the contribution will be focused on predicting the development of further investments based on the available information as well as our own suggestions and recommendations to make them more efficient.

The sustainable metabolic engineering (SME) concept was defined by Stalidzans and Dace as an approach for the selection of most sustainable metabolic engineering designs taking the economic, environmental and social components of sustainability into account. In the centre of sustainability calculations is a genome scale metabolic model that provides full balance of all incoming and outgoing metabolic fluxes at steady state. Therefore, sustainability indicators are assigned for each exchange reaction enabling calculation of sustainability features of consumption or production of each metabolite. The further development of the SME concept depends on its implementation at the computational level to acquire applicable results – sustainable production strain designs. This study proposes for the first time a workflow and tools of SME implementation using constraint based stoichiometric modelling, genome scale metabolic models and growth coupled product synthesis approach. For SME application demonstration purposes, a relatively simple engineering task has been carried out. The most sustainable designs have been identified using Escherichia coli as chassis organism, glucose as a substrate and gene deletions as metabolic engineering tool. A growth coupled production design tool has been used to reduce the variability of sustainability. The 10 000 most sustainable designs were producing succinate as the main product with the number of deleted genes ranging from two to ten. A big number of similar designs has been identified due to the combinatorial explosion of different alternative combinations of gene deletion sets that result in interruption of the same metabolic pathways with the same impact on the metabolism.

Infection with the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus type 1 (PRRSV-1) has serious economic consequences for the pig industry. Swine practitioners and other agricultural advisors often describe an increase in antibiotic use when PRRSV-1 is circulating. Our objective was to assess the impact of PRRSV-1 stabilization programmes on reducing antibiotic use. The study was carried out on 19 French farrow-to-finish farms that successfully implemented a PRRSV-1 stabilization protocol between 2007 and 2019. For each farm, antibiotic consumption (expressed in mg/PCU and ALEA) were compared one year before (P1) and one year after (P2) the implementation of such a protocol and the change between P1 and P2 were calculated in percentages. Data were then analysed by level of consumption. Antibiotic use decreased significantly between P1 and P2 if expressed in mg/PCU and showed a decreased tendency in terms of exposure (ALEA). Concerning the change from P1 to P2, our results showed that the higher consumption levels in P1, the greater antibiotic reduction in P2. This study highlights the ability of a stabilization protocol against PRRSV-1 to reduce antibiotic use, especially on farms that have high consumption. These hopeful results show that further investigations about the relationship between PRRSV-1 and antibiotic usage could be beneficial.

The Covid-19 health crisis and its related confinement measures and policies has had a significant impact on the telework adoptions rates, where many businesses were affected abruptly without being prepared, resulting in numerous ad-hoc applications especially while assessing employee’s performance and productivity while working remotely. The difficulties that have emerged with the pandemic have revealed the fragility of the traditional performance appraisal process and the unintentional existence of proximity bias. The Lebanese liquidity crisis is an ongoing financial crisis affecting Lebanon that became fully apparent toward late-2019 when large demonstrations erupted amid acute political instability and economic challenges. In light of the compounded simultaneous occurrence of recurring episodes of COVID-19 outbreaks and the ongoing country’s financial liquidity crisis, the standing of the Lebanese banking sector – who played key roles in the Lebanese economy and were long considered as financially sound and stable – has drastically changed. Faced with such a situation, Lebanese commercial banks started contracting both their branch network and human capital base, and thus they been forced to rethink their human capital strategies by implementing new practices allowing them to adapt to this context of crisis. It is in this perspective that the present research work is inscribed, where we explore the main managerial practices and processes implemented within top Lebanese banks to assess their employee’s performance during the compounded simultaneous crises. A thematic qualitative analysis method of an exploratory nature was adopted, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers from top Lebanese commercial banks. Results were processed using a deductive approach for themes identifications. Accordingly, it was concluded that in such times of acute crisis, Lebanese banks have altered the purpose of their Performance Appraisal Review (PAR) process and have implicitly or explicitly adopted a Forced Ranking method to primarily focus on retaining just the top performers, while placing those at the bottom on probation with the risk of termination.

This work investigates how to balance the electricity supply and demand in a carbon-neutral northern Europe. Applying a cost-minimizing electricity system model including options to invest in eleven different flexibility measures, cost-efficient combinations of strategies to manage varia-tions are identified. The results of the model are post-processed using a novel method to map the net load before and after flexibility measures are applied to reveal the contribution of each flexi-bility measure. The net load is mapped in the space spanned by the amplitude, duration, and number of occur-rences. The mapping shows that, depending on cost structure, flexibility measures contribute to reduce the net load in three different ways; 1) by reducing variations of long duration but low amplitude, 2) by reducing variations of high amplitude but short duration and low occurrence or 3) by reducing variations of high amplitude, short duration and high occurrence. It is found that cost-efficient variation management is achieved by combining wind and solar power and by combining strategies (1-3) to manage variations. The cost-efficient combination of strategies de-pends on electricity system context where electricity trade, flexible hydrogen and heat production (1) manage the majority of variations in regions with good conditions for wind power while sta-tionary batteries (3) are the main contributors in regions with good conditions for solar power.

Unlike aerial or terrestrial navigation, the Global Navigation satellite system (GNSS) is not available underwater. This is a big challenge for underwater navigation. The inertial navigation system (INS) aided by the single-beacon acoustic positioning system (APS) provides one solution, but the long-range case is limited by low SNR conditions. Inspired by passive synthetic aperture detection, we proposed a new tightly coupled navigation algorithm based on spatial synthesis and one-way-travel-time (OWTT) range measurement. We design two estimators: the DOA/Range estimator using the model-based method and the tightly coupled INS/APS navigation estimator. Based on the improved UKF, all information is combined. Simulation is carried out in MATLAB. Compared with range-only tightly coupled INS/APS navigation, synthetic long baseline (SLBL) algorithm and Doppler velocity logger (DVL) aided centralized extended Kalman filter (CEKF) based single beacon INS/OWTT navigation, the proposed method's performance is proven. The main contributions of this work are: 1. Propose a new architecture of underwater integrated navigation; 2. Apply the passive acoustic detecting method in the navigation to improve accuracy. 3. Apply the tightly coupled method to improve availability.

A separate group consists of compounds that are able to simultaneously interact with both orthosteric and allosteric sites, which are classified as bitopic GPCR ligands [74, 76-81]. They have two pharmacophores, one of which binds with high affinity to the orthosteric site, while the other, with lower affinity, binds to the allosteric site. If these sites are spatially separated in the receptor, then the pharmacophores in the bitopic ligand must be connected with a flexible linker, the length of which exactly corresponds to the distance between the orthosteric and allosteric sites. At the same time, it is important that the linker does not significantly affect the conformational rearrangements in the receptor caused by its activation by orthosteric and (or) allosteric agonists [74, 79].

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), one of the largest superfamilies of cell-surface receptors, are heptahelical integral membrane proteins that play critical roles in virtually every organ system. G-protein-coupled receptors operate in membranes rich in cholesterol, with an imbalance in cholesterol level within the vicinity of GPCR transmembrane domains affecting the structure and/or function of many GPCRs, a phenomenon that has been linked to several diseases. These effects of cholesterol could result in indirect changes by altering the mechanical properties of the lipid environment or direct changes by binding to specific sites on the protein. There are a number of studies and reviews on how cholesterol modulates class A GPCRs, however, this area of study is yet to be explored for class C GPCRs, which are characterized by a large extracellular region and often form constitutive dimers. This review highlights specific sites of interaction, functions, and structural dynamics involved in the cholesterol recognition of the class C GPCRs. We summarize recent data from some typical family members to explain the effects of membrane cholesterol on the structural features and functions of Class C GPCRs and speculate on their corresponding therapeutic potential.

Accounting information is a crucial management tool for Nigerian national development services. In every state or country, accounting is crucial to maintaining social peace, political stability, and economic sustainability. The explanation for this clear truth about the development of Nigeria is not plausible given the massive multi-sectoral scope of Nigerian economic activities in both the public and private sectors. For government national progress, reliable accounting information is essential. This research aims to explore the role of accounting on public sector accountability in Nigeria.

Generalized relativistic pseudopotentials (GRPP) of atomic cores implying the use of different potentials for atomic electronic shells with different principal quantum numbers give rise to accurate and reliable relativistic electronic structure models of atoms, molecules, clusters, and solids. These models readily incorporate the effects of Breit electron-electron interactions and one-loop quantum electrodynamics effects. Here we report the computational procedure for evaluating one-electron integrals of GRPP over contracted Gaussian functions. This procedure was implemented in a library of routines named LIBGRPP, which can be integrated into existing quantum chemistry software, thus enabling the application of various methods to solve the many-electron problem with GRPPs. Pilot applications to electronic transitions in the ThO and UO2 molecules using the new library and intermediate-Hamiltonian Fock space relativistic coupled cluster method are presented. The results clearly demonstrate that rather economical tiny-core GRPP models can exceed in accuracy relativistic all-electron models defined by Dirac-Coulomb and Dirac-Coulomb-Gaunt Hamiltonians.

Talbot effect is a self-imaging or lensless imaging phenomenon of a periodic grating illuminated by a collimated light beam at regular distances from the grating. Research on the Talbot effect has recently made significant strides thanks to the quick development of optical superlattices. The emergence of various applications of this effect in fields such as optics, acoustics, X-ray, plasmonics, and information processing has led to the increasing importance of obtaining a Talbot carpet with the use of different structures. In this paper, we investigate the Talbot effect that originates from the tunneling effect between an ensemble of vertically coupled cylindrical quantum dots (QDs). The Talbot carpet can be manipulated by changing the parameters of the QD system. In the current paper, two modified Pöschl-Teller potentials were used to model the QDs ensemble. The exciton’s lifetime and tunneling time’s dependence on the first QD’s potential half-width is found for a fixed value of the external electric field. The nonlinear changes in the refractive index and absorption spectrum dependent on the tunneling effect are obtained. Afterward, the Talbot carpet formation is investigated, particularly the dependences of the formed periodic wavefront’s visibility on medium length, coupling field’s strength, and tunneling parameter. Finally, we have observed the intensity distribution of the diffraction field at Talbot half-distance.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are expressed essentially on all cells, facilitating cellular responses to external stimuli, and are involved in nearly every biological process. Several members of this family play significant roles in the regulation of adipogenesis and adipose me-tabolism. However, the expression and functional significance of a vast number of GPCRs in adipose tissue are unknown. We used a high-throughput RT-PCR panel to determine the expres-sion of the entire repertoire of non-sensory GPCRs in mouse white, and brown adipose tissue and assess changes in their expression during adipogenic differentiation of murine adipocyte cell line, 3T3-L1. In addition, the expression of GPCRs in subcutaneous adipose tissues from lean, obese, and diabetic human subjects was evaluated by re-analyzing RNA-sequencing data. We detected a total of 292 and 271 GPCRs in mouse white and brown adipose tissue, respectively. There is a significant overlap in the expression of GPCRs between the two adipose tissue depots but several GPCRs are specifically expressed in one of the two tissue types. Adipogenic differ-entiation of 3T3-L1 cells had a profound impact on the expression of several GPCRs. RNA se-quencing of subcutaneous adipose from healthy human subjects detected 255 GPCRs and obesity significantly changed the expression of several GPCRs in adipose tissue. Finally, we report sev-eral highly expressed GPCRs with no known role in adipose biology whose expression was sig-nificantly altered during adipogenic differentiation and/or in the diseased human subjects. These GPCRs could play an important role in adipose metabolism and serve as a valuable translational resource for obesity and metabolic research.

Abstract: It is assumed that upon SARS-CoV-2 infection granulocytes can undergo potentially destructive oxidative burst. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate some parameters of redox and inflammatory signaling in granulocytes of recovered and of deceased COVID-19 pa-tients. Granulocytes were isolated from the blood of 32 COVID-19 patients on admission to the hospital (16 survived and 16 died within a week). The levels of proteins (immunoassay), eico-sanoids (UPLC-MS) and antioxidants activity (spectrophotometry) were examined. Enhanced activation of Nrf2 and NFκB and the levels of heme oxygenase and proinflammatory cytokines where found in granulocytes of all COVID-19 patients, while Cu,Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD activities were decreased, especially in deceased patients. Moreover, in patients who died increased levels of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids (PGE2 and TXB2) and decreased of anti-inflammatory (15d-PGJ2 and 5-HETE) were observed. However TXB2 was decreased, and IL-2 and IL-10 levels were in-creased in survivors, if compared both to healthy subjects and deceased patients, who did not change their cytokine generation. Therefore, it seems that by triggering transcription factors granulocytes activate redox signaling, leading to the production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, while reducing cellular antioxidant capacity via SOD, they express altered response to COVID-19, which might result in the onset of the vicious cycle of systemic oxidative stress in deceased patients.