Let b∈Cn∖{0} be a fixed direction. We consider slice holomorphic functions of several complex variables in the unit ball, i.e. we study functions which are analytic in intersection of every slice {z0+tb:t∈C} with the unit ball Bn={z∈C:|z|:=|z|12+…+|zn|2<1} for any z0∈Bn. For this class of functions there is introduced a concept of boundedness of L-index in the direction b where L:Bn→R+ is a positive continuous function such that L(z)>β|b|1−|z|, where β>1 is some constant. For functions from this class we describe local behavior of modulus of directional derivatives on every ’circle’ {z+tb:|t|=r/L(z)} with r∈(0;β],t∈C,z∈Cn. It is estimated by value of the function at center of the circle. Other propositions concern a connection between boundedness of L-index in the direction b of the slice holomorphic function F and boundedness of lz-index of the slice function gz(t)=F(z+tb) with lz(t)=L(z+tb). Also we show that every slice holomorphic and joint continuous function in the unit ball has bounded L-index in direction in any domain compactly embedded in the unit ball and for any continuous function L:Bn→R+.

Background: During the stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, parents play a crucial role in the care of their infants. Recent studies reported a decrease in parental participation due to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic that determined restricted access policies in hospitals. The aim of this study is to describe the barriers to a good parents’ participation during the stay in the neonatal intensive care unit in the COVID-19 era. Methods: A quantitative observational study was carried out. Results: 270 parents participated in this study. Mothers’ participation in care seems to be higher as compared to fathers (p = 0.017). Parents who lived the birth of their first child reported a better level of participation in care when compared to those who lived the birth of their second born (p = 0.005). Parents of extremely preterm neonates reported a lower interaction with their infant if compared to parents of term newborns (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Some more disadvantaged categories have reported lower scores: cultural and linguistic minorities, parents of multiple children and fathers. COVID-19 pandemic made several Family Centred Care activities not possible with a higher impact on those who benefited the most of these facilities. This study was prospectively registered by the IRB-CRRM of the University “G. d’Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara on the 23/01/2024 with registration number CRRM;2023_12_07_01.

Deep Learning (DL) oriented document processing is widely used in different fields for extraction, recognition, and classification processes from raw corpora of data. The article examines the application of deep learning approaches, based on different neural network methods, including Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). The compared models were combined with two different word embedding techniques, namely: Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers BERT and Gensim Word2Vec. The models are designed to evaluate the performance of architectures based on neural network techniques for the classification of CVs of Moroccan engineering students at ENSAK(National School of Applied Sciences of Kenitra, Ibn Tofail University). The used dataset included resumes collected from engineering students at ENSAK in 2023 for a project on the employability of Moroccan engineers in which new approaches were applied, especially machine learning, deep learning, and big data. Accordingly, 867 resumes were collected from five specialties of study (Electrical Engineering, Networks and Systems Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, Automotive Mechatronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering). The results revealed good performance of the proposed models based on the BERT embedding approach compared to models based on the Gensim Word2Vec embedding approach. Accordingly, the CNN-GRU/Bert model achieved slightly better accuracy with 0.9251 compared to other hybrid models.

Plant roots have significant effects on the soil erosion rates, since they can strongly change the soil detachment capacity (Dc). This study quantifies Dc at different flow rates in soils with Alnus subcordata species, compared to three other species (Brachythecium plumose, Gleditsia caspica and Sambucus ebulus species) in the Saravan forest park and develops regression equations for predicting Dc. Undisturbed samples collected from soils with the four tree species and subjected to five slopes (from 4.3 to 38.3%) and five water discharges (from 0.28 to 0.71 l m−1 s−1) using a hydraulic flume. The results showed that Dc was significantly lower in soils with Alnus subcordata species compared to Brachythecium plumose, Gleditsia caspica and Sambucus ebulus species, as the consequence of the changes in the root characteristics, so that Dc was negatively correlated with root weight density, root length and root biomass. The unit stream power had high accuracy for predicting Dc for all of the studied species. The lowest value of rill erodibility (Kr) was obtained in soils with Alnus subcordata species using regression relationship between the Dc and the shear stress of the soil. This experiment helped to show the importance of plant roots in reducing the soil detachment rates and provided a contribution in understanding the choice of appropriate species for soil conservation.

The Colony-Forming Unit (CFU) counting problem remains a complex issue without a universal solution in biomedical and food safety domains. A multitude of sophisticated heuristics and segmentation-driven approaches have been proposed by numerous researchers. Among those, U-Net is the most frequently cited and popular Deep Learning method. The latter approach provides a segmentation output map and requires an additional counting procedure which accounts for unique segmented regions and detected microbial colonies. However, because of pixel-based targets it tends to generate irrelevant artifacts or errant pixels, leading to inaccurate and mixed post-processing results. In response to these challenges, we propose a novel hybrid counting approach, incorporating a multi-loss U-Net reformulation and a post-processing Petri dish localization algorithm. First of all, our unique innovation lies in the multi-loss U-Net reformulation. We introduce an additional loss term at the bottleneck U-Net layer, focusing on delivering an auxiliary signal indicating where to look for distinct CFUs. Second, our novel localization algorithm accurately incorporates an agar plate and its bezel into the CFU counting routines. Finally, our proposition is further enhanced by the integration of a fully automated solution. This comprises a specially designed uniform Petri dish illumination system and a counting web application. The latter application is capable of directly receiving images from the camera, which are subsequently processed, and the segmentation results are sent back to the user. This feature provides an opportunity to correct the CFU counts, offering a feedback loop that contributes to the continued development of the Deep Learning model. Through extensive experimentation, we have found that all probed multi-loss U-Net architectures incorporated in our hybrid approach consistently outperform their single-loss counterparts which utilize exclusively the combination of Tversky and Cross-Entropy training losses at the output U-Net layer. We report further significant improvements by the means of our novel localization algorithm. This reaffirms the effectiveness of our proposed hybrid solution in addressing contemporary challenges of the precise in-vitro CFU counting.

This paper proposes the optimization method for the minimum mass of permanent magnet (PM) excited homopolar inductor alternator (HIA) with air-gap winding used for high-speed driving system. The calculation results show that there is an optimal value for shell diameter and unit number of HIA to make the mass to be smallest. A 1 MW at 22000 rpm PM excited HIA is designed. The analytical results are verified by the FEM simulations. The losses, temperature rise, rotor stress and modal of the PM excited HIA are also analyzed. The calculation results show that the solid rotor eddy-current losses and the temperature rise of PM excited HIA are acceptable. Also the rotor strength is adequate, and the rotor system is a stiffness rotor, and it can safely operate. Finally, the comparison between PM excited HIA and permanent magnet rotor machine is discussed.

Immersive Unit Visualization is an emergent form of visualization that arose from Immersive Analytics where, unlike traditional visualizations, each data point is represented by an individual visual mark in an immersive virtual environment. This practice has focused almost exclusively on virtual reality, excluding augmented reality (AR). This article develops and tests a prototype of an immersive Unit Visualization (Floating Companies II) with two AR devices: head-mounted display (HMD) and hand-held display (HHD). Results from the testing sessions with 20 users were analyzed through qualitative research analysis and thematic coding indicating that, while the HHD enabled a first contact with AR visualization on a familiar device, HMD improved the perception of hybrid space by supporting greater stability of virtual content; wider field of view; improved spatial perception; increased sense of immersion; and more realistic simulation, which impacted on information reading and sense-making. The materialization of abstract quantitative values into concrete reality through its simulation in the real environment and the ludic dimension stand out as important opportunities of this type of visualization. This paper investigates the aspects distinguishing two experiences regarding data visualization in hybrid space; and characterizes ways of seeing information with AR, identifying opportunities to advance information design research.

This paper discusses the use of networks of Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) for the reconstruction of trajectories from sensor data. Logistics is a natural application domain, to verify the quality of the handling of goods. This is a mass application and the economics of logistics impose that IMUs to be used must be low cost and use basic computational devices. The approach in the paper converts a strategy from the literature, used in the multi-target following problem, to reaching a consensus in a network of IMUs. The paper presents results on how to achieve the consensus in trajectory reconstruction, along with covariance intersection data fusion of the information obtained by all nodes in the network.

Abstract: The recently described perivascular unit (PVU) resides immediately adjacent to the true capillary neurovascular unit (NVU) in the postcapillary venule and contains the normal-benign perivascular spaces (PVS) and pathological enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS). The PVS are important, in that, they also have recently been identified to be the construct and the conduit responsible for the delivery of metabolic waste from the interstitial fluid to the ventricular cerebrospinal fluid for disposal into the systemic circulation and has been termed the glymphatic system. Importantly, the outermost boundary of the PVS is lined by protoplasmic perivascular astrocyte endfeet (pvACef) that communicate with regional neurons. As compared to the well-recognized and described neurovascular unit (NVU) and NVU coupling, the PVU is less well understood and remains an emerging concept. The primary focus of this narrative review is to compare the similarities and differences between these two units and discuss each of their structural and functional relationships and how they relate not only to brain homeostasis but also how they may relate to the development of multiple clinical neurological disease states and specifically how they may relate to obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Additionally, the concept and importance of a perisynaptic astrocyte coupling to the neuronal synapses with pre- and postsynaptic neurons will also be considered as a perisynaptic unit to provide for the creation of the information transfer in the brain via synaptic transmission and brain homeostasis. Multiple electron microscopic images and illustrations will be utilized in order to help explain these complex units.

New detailed geological/structural mapping as well as field-based structural analysis were carried out to investigate the deformation pattern of well-preserved high-pressure rocks of the Blueschist Unit exposed on SE Syros (Cyclades, Greece). Our new geological mapping revealed the occurrence of a metasedimentary sequence underlain by a meta-igneous sequence. The contact between these two sequences displays typically interfingering patterns in map-scale due to folding. The earlier ductile deformation phase recognized in the mapped area, is associated with the development of a penetrative foliation, which was formed under eclogite/blueschist facies conditions at peak conditions. The subsequent main deformation phase occurred at blueschist facies conditions synchronous with the early stages of exhumation of the high-pressure rocks. This phase is mainly associated with the formation of map-scale WNW-trending folds and a pervasive axial planar foliation linked with ESE-directed shearing. The main deformation ceased within blueschist facies conditions and exhumation of the rocks to greenschist facies conditions took place under very weak deformation. Greenschist retrogression observed in the southwestern part of the mapped area seems to be controlled by fluids rather than by intense deformation. Our results indicate that the high-pressure rocks of the Blueschist Unit exposed on Syros Island represent a large-scale pod of low deformation under blueschist to greenschist facies conditions, likely occupying the core of an extrusion wedge.

The natural units of measure lauded by Max Planck more than 100 years ago are rarely used today. But many physical constants, including Planck's constant, the gravitational constant, the speed of light, vacuum permittivity, and vacuum permeability, consist of natural units in their unit dimensions. The natural units are present in all formulas containing these constants. The defining characteristic of the natural units is an alignment of unit values at the Planck scale. This alignment gives a computational basis of proportionality from which the correlated properties and dynamics of elementary particles, including wavelength, period, mass, momentum, and energy, manifest in equal or inversely proportional ratios of the Planck scale. These correlations explain many of the defining equations of quantum mechanics, classical gravity, and electromagnetism.

Nowadays, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) represent a major global public health problem and the burden of these infections is high. In order to reduce the incidence of HAIs and to prevent the spread antibi-otics resistant organisms is mandatory to develop surveillance systems. We undertook a retrospective case-control study of all patients presenting HAIs admitted in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in order to assess risk factors associated with death among patients with HAIs. Patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit who died were more likely to present an infection with a multidrug resistant bacteria, an infection with Acineto-bacter baumannii, and to suffer from acute myocardial infarction. Among the patients enrolled in the study, a higher probability of death was also observed in association with certain gram-negative pathogens: Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The longer the patient remains admitted in ICU, the higher the risk of getting an infection that can often become fatal. Acquiring a noso-comial infection also increases the length of hospitalization which will lead to increased financial damage.

Background: This study investigated the incidence, characteristics and functional outcomes associated with unplanned Acute Care Unit Readmissions (ACUR) during inpatient traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation in an Asian cohort. Methods: Retrospective review of electronic medical records from single rehabilitation unit was conducted from 1 Jan 2012 to 31 Dec 2014. Inclusion criteria were first TBI, aged >18 years, admitted < 6 months of TBI. ACUR were characterized into either of neurological, medical or neurosurgical subtypes. The main outcome measure was discharge Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Secondary outcomes included rehabilitation length of stay (RLOS). Results: Of 121 eligible TBI records, the incidence of ACUR was 14% (n=17), comprising neurologic (76.5%) and medical (23.5%) subtypes, occurring at median of 13 days (IQR 6, 28.5) after rehabilitation admission. Patients without ACUR had significantly higher admission mean (SD) FIM score compared to those with ACUR (FIM ACUR-negative 63.4 (21.1) vs FIM ACUR-positive 50.53(25.4), P =0.026). Significantly lower discharge FIM was noted in those with ACUR compared to those without. (FIM ACUR-positive 65.8(31.4) vs FIM ACUR-negative 85.4 (21.1), P = 0.023) Furthermore, a significant near-doubling of RLOS was noted in ACUR patients compared to non-ACUR counterparts [ACUR-positive median 55 days (IQR 34.50, 87.50) vs ACUR-negative median 28 days (IQR 16.25, 40.00), P = 0.002]. Conclusion: This study highlights the significant negative functional impact and lengthening of rehabilitation duration of ACUR on inpatient rehabilitation outcome for TBI.

Due to the complex underground environment, pumping machines are prone to produce numerous failures. The indicator diagrams of faults are similar in a certain degree, which produces indistinguishable samples. As the samples increases, manual diagnosis becomes difficult, which decreases the accuracy of fault diagnosis. For accurately and quickly judging the fault type, we propose an improved adaptive activation function and apply it to five types of neural networks. The adaptive activation function improves the negative semi-axis slope of the ReLU activation function by combining the gated channel conversion unit to improve the performance of the deep learning model. The proposed adaptive activation function is compared with the traditional activation function through the fault diagnosis data set and the public data set. The results show that the activation function has better nonlinearity, can improve the generalization performance of deep learning model, the accuracy of fault diagnosis. In addition, the proposed adaptive activation function can also be well embedded in other neural networks.

Modern electrical power systems integrate renewable generation, with solar generation being one of the pioneers worldwide. In Latin America, the greatest potential and development of solar generation is found in Chile through the National Electric System. However, its energy matrix faces a crisis of drought and reduction of emissions that limits hydroelectric generation and involves the definitive withdrawal of coal generation. The dispatch of these plants is carried out by the system operator, who uses a simplified mechanism, called “economic merit list” and which does not reflect the real costs of the plants to the damage of the operating and marginal cost of the system. This inefficient dispatch scheme fails to optimize the availability of stored gas and its use over time. Therefore, a real-time redispatch model is proposed that minimizes the operation cost function of the power plants, integrating the variable generation cost as a polynomial function of the net specific fuel consumption, adding gas volume stock restrictions and water reservoirs. In addition, the redispatch model uses an innovative "maximum dispatch power" restriction, which depends on the demand associated with the automatic load disconnection scheme due to low frequency. Finally, by testing real simulation cases, the redispatch model manages to optimize the operation and dispatch costs of power plants, allowing the technical barriers of the market to be broken down with the aim of integrating ancillary services in the short term, using the power reserves in primary (PFC), secondary (SCF), and tertiary (TCF) frequency control.

A new power receiving unit (PRU) is proposed in this paper for the resonant wireless power transfer (WPT), which is characterized by the capability of attracting high power from the power transmitting unit (PTU). The resonant WPT is designed for delivering the electrical power to the PRU attached on an electrical vehicle (EV) chassis 50cm away from a PTU installed on the ground. The proposed PRU uses only the passive elements such as inductors, diodes and the capacitors, which needs no initial power from the EV. It is then applicable for charging a battery to several hundred volts for even a first-time charging battery. At a switching frequency of the resonant WPT in the experiment being 4MHz, the proposed PRU behaves itself as a negative impedance converter (NIC) in the subharmonics of 4MHz. The NIC effect plus the subharmonic oscillation causes an instability current charging the battery connected to the PRU. In this paper, we simulated the PRU and performed the experiment. The experiment demonstrates a battery charging of 150W from 50cm away using three D-mode GaN HEMT transistors via the instability current ramp. The power transfer efficiency (PTE) improved as the power delivered to load (PDL) goes higher. The best power transfer efficiency (PTE) is 65% in the present findings. The simulation analysis shows that the circuit allows itself be used to much higher power transfer when it is implemented with more GaN HEMT transistors connected in parallel. The theoretical derivation of the PRU circuit is also used to support both the experimental and simulation results.

Background Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common comorbidity in the intensive care unit (ICU), with higher mortality rate among those who receive continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). This study aimed to investigate the association of white blood cell (WBC) levels with all-cause mortality in AKI patients undergoing CRRT. Method We conducted a post hoc analysis of ICU patient data from multiple centers in Korea. First, the levels of WBCs were classified into four groups based on quartiles. Second, the relationship between different WBC levels and mortality was investigated with the Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival curves, Cox proportional hazards model, and generalized additivity model (GAM). Finally, we used multiple imputation to avoid bias caused by non-randomized missing data. The endpoints were short-term (28 days) and long-term (90 days) mortality. Result In our analysis, a total of 1,100 ICU patients were included. Among them, 670 (60.90%) and 781 (71.00%) died within 28 and 90 days, respectively. K-M survival curves showed that patients with the lowest WBC levels had the highest risk of mortality for both outcomes. Adjusted multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that compared with the reference level (quartile 2), low WBC levels increased the risk of both 28-day mortality (quartile 1, HR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.13–1.83, P = 0.004) and 90-day mortality (quartile 1: HR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.05-1.66, P = 0.016). GAM analysis showed a non-linear, U-shaped relationship between pre-CRRT WBC levels and all-cause mortality (non-linear P < 0.05). Conclusion The baseline WBC level is an independent predictor of prognosis for ICU patients receiving CRRT. Patients in the lowest WBC quartile had the highest risk of all-cause mortality. These results provide further evidence that early observation and intervention may have a prognostic value for these high-risk patients.

Purpose of the study: to reveal how the transfusion and the refraining from it affects the neuro-vascular unit in the congenital heart defects correction with cardiopulmonary bypass. Materials and methods: in vitro research, we formed a model of a neurovascular unit, which contains neu-rons, astrocytes and endothelial cells. This cellular model was cultivated in hypoxia conditions with the oxygen saturation levels of 1, 2, 3, 4%. In addition, this unit was cultivated with the pa-tient's serum adding in two different groups - with minimal and maximal levels of system in-flammatory response that we estimated by IL-6 level. Results: We found that during incubation in hypoxic conditions, the level of transendothelial resistance changed in groups with oxygen levels of 1% and 2% only after 4 hours. When we cultivated neurovascular unit cells with patients' sera, we found a minimal level of transendothelial resistance at 4 hours that increased after 24 hours. Permeability analysis showed that its level significantly decreased in the 1% and 2% oxygen group at 60- and 90-minutes relative to the control group. Conclusion: the system inflammatory response has more expressed but less long effect on the neurovascular unit model than hypoxia.

Improving the quality of natural water purification is one of the priority areas in the research of scientific communities in the field of ecology. At the same time, the task is to achieve optimal efficiency at a low cost of the technological process. The solution in this case is the use of materials necessary for cleaning, in particular, sorbents from natural raw materials, including agricultural waste. At present, a sufficient number of research results have been published confirming the effectiveness of the sorbent from biochar of various agricultural wastes, as well as from rice straw biochar. This article proposes an innovative method for modifying biochar from rice straw, which allows the use of the material as a sorbent with a disinfecting effect. The method consists in processing biochar in a process activation apparatus (PAP) in a solution of silver nitrate with the release in the form of a carbon nanomaterial with attached metallic silver ions on the surface of biochar particles. Rice straw biochar was mixed in distilled water with silver nitrate AgNO3 and placed in the AAP in a replaceable insert with ferromagnetic particles that have a magnetostrictive effect under the influence of an electromagnetic field. Next, the contact of biochar impregnated with a solution of silver nitrate and ferromagnetic particles was carried out for 2 minutes under electromagnetic influence, after which the treated sample was dried in an oven for 4 hours at t=105ºС, followed by calcination in a muffle furnace at 450ºС for 3 hours. The resulting silver-containing sorbent was subjected to a physicochemical analysis of its properties, photographs of electron microscopy were also obtained, and a bacteriological analysis of the effectiveness of the sorbent on natural water was carried out. According to the results of the analyzes, the silver-containing sorbent is a mesoporous nanomaterial with an average mesopore diameter for desorption of 196 Å, a relative volume of pores with a diameter of up to 900 Å 0.034 cm³/g,, specific surface 7.45 m²/g and a content of metallic silver ions on the surface of the sorbent particles of (Ag) 16.7%, oxygen (O) 54.9%, unexpectedly (С) 13.7%, silicon (Si) 8.1%. Laboratory studies for the bacteriological analysis of natural water consisted in the sorption processing of the selected samples in the carbonization mode, followed by sedimentation after the introduction of the reagent (a mixture of coagulant and flocculant). The analysis was carried out on three indicators - total microbial count (TMC), total coliform bacteria (TCB) and thermotolerant coliform bacteria (TCB). According to the research results, the sorbent showed its disinfecting properties and confirmed its high efficiency (90,48%-100%).

In this study, a new empirical equation was established to predict the sedimentation volume resulting from the construction of a multipurpose weir or low-head dam. The study employed a one-dimensional numerical model (STAFF) to investigate the key parameters affecting sedimentation volume. Short-term predictions were conducted through laboratory experiments with movable bed, and the results indicated that dimensionless unit stream power and the Shields parameter exhibited the most significant correlation with dimensionless deposition volume. Using a multiple regression approach, an empirical equation was formulated and validated for predicting sedimentation in the upstream reservoir of the weir.

The fetal splenic artery pulsatility index (PI) is a parameter that reflects fetal well-being and has been used as a predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of splenic artery PI in GDM class A1 cases for NICU admission. In this prospective case controlled study, only sixty single pregnancy cases diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus class A1 were evaluated. Fetal splenic artery Doppler parameters Peak systolic velocity (PSV), Pulsatility index (PI), Resistivity index (RI) and End diastolic velocity (EDV) were measured in all cases. The rate of re-quirement of need of neanoatal intensive care unit was noted. In cases with need fetal intensive care, fetal splenic PI index was found to be statistically significantly lower than in healthy cases without it (0.94 ± 0.29 vs. 1.70 ± 0.53, respectively, p

Quantifying different stocking rates effects in three study areas placed at Mediterranean forest (Cuenca, Spain) was conducted by applying a multiparametric soil quality index, SQI, developed in undisturbed forest soils (> 40 years). The main objective is to advance in the development and application of multiparametric indexes which allow for soil condition assessment. For it, is analyse the effectiveness of a multiparametric soil quality index (SQI) as an indicator livestock impacts on the soil in mediterranean forests. Control areas without stocking rates were compared in forest stands with different age (Thicket forest stand, < 30 years; High polewood forest stand, 30-60 years; Old growth forest stand, > 60 years); with various intensity grazing areas (permanent livestock passage: inactive sheepfold for 2-3 years, and active sheepfold; intermittent livestock passage: bare soil, pine stand, scrubland). The multiparametric soil quality index (SQI) applied sensitive to changes in forest ecosystems depending of different stocking rates. However, for even more preci-sion to assess cattle alteration, multiparameter index recalibrated, creating a new one; Soil Status Index by Livestock (SSIL). Correlation between quality ranges obtained with both indexes in dif-ferent study areas suggest that SSIL can be considered a livestock impact reference indicator in Mediterranean forest soils.

Despite the serious threat of global warming caused by carbon emissions, commercial refrigeration systems that generate cooling are unable to adjust their usage time. Therefore, it is essential to enhance the energy efficiency of refrigeration systems themselves. Recently developed refrigeration systems offer improved energy consumption efficiency, as they utilize inverter-type outdoor units that can communicate with indoor units. However, traditional legacy refrigeration systems still suffer from poor energy efficiency because the existing indoor units cannot communicate with inverter-type outdoor units. Hence, this paper introduces a heuristic energy efficiency improvement algorithm for commercial refrigeration systems using legacy indoor units when an inverter-type outdoor unit is installed. In particular, to reduce the computational complexity of the process of selecting the optimal temperature difference and target low-pressure variables that can enhance energy efficiency, the algorithm employs the Monte Carlo method. Finally, the performance of the proposed heuristic energy efficiency improvement algorithm was evaluated in a laboratory environment to confirm its applicability.

The aim of the present work is to explore a different non-traditional approach to higher dimensional spacetime which differs from the usual approaches such as large extra space dimensions, warped extra space dimensions and multiple extra time dimensions. This approach will be referred to as "Dynamic" higher dimensional spacetime. By this term will be introduced a new kind of higher dimensional spacetime (more than the usual 3+1 dimensions), which behaves dynamically in the sense that time is not a fixed dimension but is the extra plus one dimension to the spatial dimensions of the phenomenon we are studying. For a higher dimensional phenomenon, the lower dimensional time will behave as space and the new time will be a plus one dimension, meaning if we study a 3-dimensional phenomenon then time is the usual 4th dimension but if we are studying a 4-dimensional phenomenon then its time will be an extra 5th dimension and for this phenomenon the 4th dimension will behave as space. All spatial dimensions are indistinguishable from each other and behave in the exact same way, which means that the important parameter is not the dimension we are studying (for example the 4th or the 5th) but the number of dimensions in which a phenomenon can interact and how higher dimensional phenomena interact with lower ones. This non-traditional approach to higher dimensional spacetime may appear confusing at first but will become clearer in the rest of the paper. For this reason, we will first associate the time dimension with propagation relative to space dimensions and change orthogonal to them in order to give the reader a better intuition. Following that, we will describe how higher - dimensional phenomena would appear to us, the 3 - dimensional observer and try to set some guidelines on how we should mathematically model higher - dimensional phenomena in order for us to make accurate predictions of their behaviour. Then we will express the general framework of a "Dynamic" higher - dimensional spacetime and turn our gaze to 4+1 – dimensional phenomena. We will explore how a mass term arises for 4 – dimensional waves by generalizing the frequency – speed – wavelength relation of 3D waves and give a basic description on a possible way to describe a 4+1 – dimensional disturbance in a scalar Energy Field in order to make accurate predictions on our 3+1 dimensional plane. In this framework we will derive the Klein – Gordon equation by generalizing the wave equation and ignoring all lower than 4+1 - dimensional disturbances and compere our mass term findings with the Klein – Gordon equation mass term and with results from gravity – induced quantum interference experiments. Lastly, we will describe how a "Dynamic" 5 - dimensional spacetime would appear in a 3D observer and examine whether our findings are compatible with quantum mechanics and the special theory of relativity.

One of the most crucial elements in deeply understanding humans on a psychological level is manifested through facial expressions. The analysis of a human behavior can be informed by their facial expressions, making it essential to employ indicators such as expression (Expr), valence-arousal (VA), and action units (AU). In this paper, we introduce the method proposed in the Challenge of the 6th Workshop and Competition on Affective Behavior Analysis in-the-wild (ABAW) at CVPR 2024. Our proposed method utilizes the multi-modal Aff-wild2 dataset, which is splitted into spatial and audio modalities. For the spatial data, we extract features using a SimMiM model that was pre-trained on a diverse set of facial expression data. For the audio data, we extract features using a WAV2VEC model. To fusion the extracted spatial and audio features, we employed the cascaded cross-attention mechanism of a transformer.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a prevalent congenital disorder diagnosed with high frequency, affecting approximately 0.8% to 1.2% of all live births. Research has demonstrated that the use of pulse oximetry and clinical examination as a screening tool for CHD diagnosis has proven extremely valuable. We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study over a 3-year period that involved screening 1188 newborns admitted to the NICU during the first 72 hours of life within this timeframe. 201 newborns were diagnosed with CHD. Almost all (n=198) had a positive screening test during the 72-hour period, while 3 had a negative screening test, but were later diagnosed using echocardiography. The prevalence rate was 16.67%. A confusion matrix was constructed with 198 true positives (TP), 3 false negatives (FN), no false positives (FP), and 987 true negatives (TN). The sensitivity of the screening test was 98.51%, while the specificity 100%, with no false positives. In our study, a total of 9 deaths occurred. Using the Kaplan-Meier method, the survival probability appeared to be slightly above 0.9 (95.5%), indicating that almost all patients survived past 72 hours after being diagnosed with CHD. Pulse oximetry is an effective, low cost and easy-to-use method and a useful tool to assess and lead to the diagnosis of CHD.

This paper proposes a lightweight joint with bamboo culm cross connection, which is constructed by screwing one side of the screw into the other side of the wooden plug, its simple construction makes it easy to manufacture and cost-effective. This form connects adjacent bamboo culms to form corner joints, and bolt connects adjacent bamboo culm frames to form edge joints, to explore the mechanical properties of the combination joints formed by corner joints and edge joints, by combining experiments and numerical simulations, the method discovered and explained the relationship and mechanism between the number and position of bolts and the stiffness of edge joints. A calculation model for frame-unit bamboo culm members considering semi-stiffness of joints is proposed, and the conversion equations between linear stiffness of corner and edge joint and their rotational stiffnesses are derived. By establishing the series and parallel relationship between the corner and edge joints in the assembled members, a generalized relational equation between the total stiffness of the assembled joint and the stiffness of the corner and edge joints is derived. A numerical simulation method for frame-unit bamboo culm members with semi-rigid joints is proposed, which can obtain the stiffness calculation formula of edge joints and the average rotational stiffness value of semi-rigid corner joints. A finite element analysis method based on semi-rigid joints is proposed for frame-unit bamboo culm members, and the internal force sketches and calculation methods for bamboo culms and joints are presented, which can be used for the internal force analysis and design of frame-unit bamboo culm lattice structures.

In this paper, comprehensive analysis of combined effect of major influencing parameters on heat transfer in the single U-tube BHE (sBHE) and double U-tube BHE (dBHE) with two independent circuits was performed by using validated numerical heat transfer model. Geometrical parameters, such as shank spacing (with maximum, average and minimum values) and borehole diameter (large, medium and small borehole sizes) and borehole depth (shallow, average and deep borehole depths) as well as thermal conductivity of soil and grout which ranges from minimum to high value were considered. The combined impact of these parameters was included under four major cases: 1) combined effect of borehole depth, borehole size and shank spacing; 2) combined effect of borehole depth, and soil and grout thermal conductivity; 3) combined effect of soil and grout thermal conductivity and borehole size; and 4) combined effect of soil thermal conductivity, borehole size and shank spacing. Each of these major cases has nine different design options of both sBHE and dBHE. Series of results of heat transfer per unit borehole depth were generated for all the considered various cases. With the given parameters, the BHE case that provides highest heat transfer among the various cases of sBHE and dBHE were obtained.

This study introduces session-aware recommendation models, leveraging GRU (Gated Recurrent Unit) and attention mechanisms for advanced latent interaction data integration. A primary ad-vancement is enhancing latent context, a critical factor for boosting recommendation accuracy. We address existing models' rigidity by dynamically blending short-term (most recent) and long-term (historical) preferences, moving beyond static period definitions. Our approaches, pre-combination (LCII-Pre) and post-combination (LCII-Post) with fixed (Fix) and flexible learning (LP) weight configurations, are thoroughly evaluated. We conducted extensive experiments to as-sess our models' performance on public datasets such as Amazon and MovieLens 1M. Notably, on the MovieLens 1M dataset, LCII-PreFix achieved a 1.85% and 2.54% higher Recall@20 than II-RNN and BERT4Rec+st+TSA, respectively. On the Steam dataset, LCII-PostLP outperformed these models by 18.66% and 5.5%. Furthermore, on the Amazon dataset, LCII showed a 2.59% and 1.89% improvement in Recall@20 over II-RNN and CAII. These results affirm the significant enhancement our models bring to session-aware recommendation systems, showcasing their po-tential for both academic and practical applications in the field.

The global energy landscape is undergoing a transformative shift, and the potential of LNG as a major energy source is a topic of intense debate. In order to meet the growing demand for sustainable energy supply, it is crucial to maximize the efficiency and environmental friendliness of the LNG supply chain. This research aims to leverage computational modeling and optimization techniques to enhance the production units involved in LNG production. By harnessing the power of advanced algorithms and simulations, we can identify and implement innovative strategies that minimize energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance the overall sustainability of LNG. Through this study, we seek to uncover novel approaches to address the challenges faced by the LNG industry, including improving operational efficiency, optimizing liquefaction processes, and enhancing the utilization of natural resources. By integrating cutting-edge computational tools and considering environmental factors, we aspire to pave the way for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future powered by LNG. By exploring the immense potential of computational modeling and optimization, we strive to contribute to the ongoing efforts in advancing energy sustainability and shaping the future of LNG as a crucial global energy source."In this paper, our focus is on simulating and optimizing the process of converting natural gas to LNG. Our goal is to achieve the minimum energy consumption per ton of LNG produced. Through our research, we have identified that utilizing a three-stage exchanger is the most effective approach for minimizing energy consumption in an LNG industrial production unit. Moreover, we have discovered that the outlet pressure from the compressor and the type of refrigerant in the cooling system play significant roles in determining the rate of energy conservation. By carefully considering these factors and optimizing their settings, we can further enhance the overall energy efficiency of the LNG production process. Our research aims to provide valuable insights and guidance to industry professionals and decision-makers in the LNG sector. By implementing the findings of this study, we can contribute to the sustainable development and utilization of LNG as a cleaner and more environmentally energy source. Friendly It's great to see the optimized parameters for the refrigerants and pressure settings in the liquefaction and subcooling cycles. With the mass fraction of 0.89 for methane and 0.14 for ethane in the liquefaction cycle, and 0.59 for methane and 0.3 for nitrogen in the composition for achieving energy efficiency in the LNG production subcooling cycle, The optimized outlet pressure of 650 kPa for the compressors in the liquefaction cycle and 1800 kPa for the subcooling cycle furtherr ccontribute to minimizing energy consumption. Based on your findings, the amount of consumed energy at 14.81 kW per ton of produced LNG highlights the success of the optimization efforts. Reducing the energy consumption per ton of LNG produced is a significant accomplishment towards achieving energy sustainability and environmental friendliness in the LNG industry. These results demonstrate the importance of computational modeling and optimization in identifying the best parameters for eenhancing energy efficiency in LNG production. By implementing these optimized settings, we can work towards a more sustainable future with reduced energy consumption and lower environmental impact

This study introduces a low-cost solution provided by a specialized source measure unit (SMU), offering an alternative to conventional source meter units. Through precise IV curve measurements for graphene-channel FETs, the SMU demonstrates its capability in accurately characterizing these devices with minimal noise and high accuracy. This cost-effective solution presents a promising avenue for researchers and developers seeking reliable tools for sensor development and characterization, providing valuable insights into the behavior of graphene-channel FETs and the effect of surface illumination without the need for expensive equipment. Additionally, the SMU was validated with known passive and active components, along with probe station integration for microscale connection, ensuring its effectiveness in capturing accurate measurements. The SMU’s focus on collecting IV curves, coupled with its ability to identify device defects, such as Schottky junctions, contributes to its utility in quality testing for semiconductor devices. Its low-cost nature makes it accessible for various research endeavors, enabling efficient data collection and analysis for graphene-based sensor applications.

In this paper we provide some important and significant observations on invo-regular rings appeared in Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Sklodowska Sect. A Mathematica (2018). In addition we exhibit that strongly invo-regular rings, invo-regular rings and quasi invo-regular rings all coincide with the well known and well characterized tripotent rings and all these rings further coincide with the well known unit regular rings.

The purpose of this study was to determine the income, costs and revenue of the Gontor Putri 3 bakery. Want to know the efficiency of the bakery business in Karangbanyu Regency. The method used in this research is analytical descriptive by conducting a survey. The data used in this research is primary data. Data collection techniques use observation, interviews and documentation, while the process of analysis is quantitative descriptive. Using the R/C ratio, a value of 1.72 per month is obtained. This value indicates that the bakery factory in Karangbanyu is efficient because the value is more than one.

The branch prediction units (BPUs) generally have security vulnerabilities, which can be used by attackers to obtain the execution status, jump directions, and jump address of conditional branches, and the existing protection methods cannot defend against these attacks. Therefore, this article proposes a hardware security protection method for conditional branches of embedded systems. This method calculates the number of updates to the branch target buffer (BTB). When it exceeds the threshold, BTB is locked to prevent attackers from analyzing the execution status of branches based on the time difference of whether BTB is updated. Moreover, the hybrid physical unclonable function (PUF) circuit is designed to provide confidentiality protection for the jump directions, jump addresses, and their indexes, preventing attackers from stealing these critical data. If these mechanism fails and attackers successfully tamper with conditional branches, this paper proposes a control flow integrity (CFI) protection mechanism based on branch labels to timely detect tampering with instruction codes, jump addresses, and jump directions. The proposed method is implemented and tested on FPGA. The experimental results show that this method can achieve fine-grained security protection for conditional branches, with about 5.4% resource overhead and less than 5.5% performance overhead.

Coal bottom ash (CBA) is a byproduct of coal-burning power plants. This material can be used as a fine aggregate replacement in concrete to reduce global natural material depletion. Concrete usage is increasing rapidly; subsequently, the industry’s carbon footprint is increasing. Using CBA in the construction industry will reduce the technical and economic problems associated with power plants by reducing solid waste. This project aimed to determine if adding new sustainable materials, such as CBA, to concrete will reduce natural raw material usage, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions while improving performance. This study included two projects: comparing increased CBA content to the two-control project and determining the optimum content based on the compressive strength. The optimum CBA content is 50%, which reduces fine aggregate usage in a concrete mix by 50% while maintaining equivalent or better concrete strength than a pure Portland concrete mix without CBA. The air content of the concrete mix containing % CBA decreased with increased CBA content and compressive strength, possibly due to the spacing factor of the voids in the mix and CBA’s porous and fineness behavior. The CBA optimum content had a unit weight lower than the controls for both projects, which makes the CBA mix a lightweight concrete. Using this material can significantly reduce natural material usage and environmental harm by reducing CBA waste disposal and improving concrete performance.

Background/Objectives: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common emergency presentation in Australia, with the choice of admitting specialty unit often influenced by pneumonia severity and comorbidities. However, it remains unclear whether there are between-specialty differences in patient characteristics and outcomes. We sought to address this issue by investigating the characteristics and outcomes of CAP patients admitted to General Medicine (GM) versus Respiratory units.Methods: This retrospective observational study utilised data from the two largest metropolitan hospitals in South Australia, encompassing all non-COVID-19-related CAP admissions throughout 2021 to 2023. Hospital length of stay (LOS), in-patient and 30-day mortality, and 30-day readmission rates were assessed by propensity-score-matching (PSM) with using 14 variables.Results: Of the 3,004 cases of non-COVID-19 CAP admitted across the two hospitals during the study period, 2,673 (71.8%) were admitted under GM units and 331 (9.1%) under Respiratory units. GM patients were, on average, a decade older, presented with a significantly higher burden of comorbidities, exhibited a greater prevalence of frailty and had higher pneumonia severity compared to those admitted under a Respiratory unit, (P

Abstract: Comorbidities of patients may be related to the duration of mechanical ventilation, survival, and Candida isolation during intensive care unit (ICU) stay. To examine the frequency of Candida isolation and significant comorbidities in the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) in Osijek University Hospital, Croatia, the data from the electronic database from May 2016 to June 30, 2023, were analyzed. In a cross-sectional study examining 15,790 microbiological samples, different strains of Candida were observed in 581 samples from 236 patients. The control group was 160 consecutive patients from March-May 2019, and 161 in the same months of 2020 (pre- and post-COVID-19). Comorbidities, duration of mechanical ventilation and survival were compared. Patients with isolated Candida were more often non-elective, had significantly more heart, kidney, liver diseases and sepsis (P<0.001). The duration of mechanical ventilation was 9.2 [2.2-9.24], 96 [24-146], 160 [19.5-343] and 224 [73.5-510] hours in controls, and patients with Candida albicans, non-albicans, and in patients with ³2 Candidas isolated. The mortality was significantly higher and reached 42% in patients with Candida isolated, while in the control group, it was 19% (P<0.001). In a multivariate analysis adjusted for patient’s age, SAPS II score, days of ICU, and type of admission, only sepsis was independent predictor of mortality (OR = 2.27).

Recent technological advancements in produced water for the oil and gas industry have a long history that spreads over centuries and has roots with many mathematicians, physicists, engineers, and inventors. Working to understand the many ideas and questions has helped to bring the produced water technologies to where we are today. Fluid mechanics is an essential factor in the world of engineering because it comes with significant benefits when designing the necessary equipment to overcome the challenging endeavors of daily operations. Many of us believe certain ideas or products were developed within a specific year not fully understanding the idea or concept might be hundreds of years old. For example, when we think of fluid mechanics, we do not think of Archimedes' immersing King Hiero II crown in water. Archimedes did this to determine the displacement of the water as he knew gold was denser than silver. Archimedes was one of the pioneers who was part of the beginning of fluid mechanics. Another interesting fact is the first valve invented was in 1 AD by Heron of Alexandria. This valve can be described as the very first hydraulic valve. The evolution of technology over hundreds of years has made considerable innovations benefiting engineers all over the world. These innovations come in the form of PLCs, RTUs, PIDs, mathematical formulas, processing methods, and SCADA systems.

Abstract Cerebral microbleed(s) (CMBs) are increasingly being viewed not only as a marker for cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) but also as having an increased risk for the development of stroke (hemorrhagic/ischemic) and aging-related dementia. Recently, brain endothelial cell activation and dysfunction and blood-brain barrier dysfunction and/or disruption have been shown to be associated with SVD, enlarged perivascular spaces, and the development and evolution of CMBs. CMBs are a known disorder of cerebral microvessels that are visualized as 3-5mm, smooth, round or oval, and hypointense (black) lesions seen only on T2*-weighted gradient recall echo or susceptibility-weighted sequences on MRI images. CMBs (a global problem) are known to occur with high prevalence in community-dwelling older individuals. Since our current global population is the oldest recorded in history and only expected to continue to grow, we can only expect the health care burdens associated with CMBs to also grow. CMBs should raise a red flag regarding the increased risk of large symptomatic neurologic intracerebral hemorrhages. Importantly, CMBs are also currently regarded as markers of diffuse vascular and neurodegenerative brain damage. Thus, it is essential that we try to learn as much as we can about their development, evolution, and their relation to impaired cognition, dementia, and neurodegeneration.

The study evaluated the regenerative responses of the lacrimal functional unit (LFU) after Lacrimal Gland (LG) ablation. The LG of Wistar rats were submitted to G1) partial LG ablation, G2) partial ablation and transplantation of an allogeneic LG, or G3) total LG ablation, (n=7-10/group). The eye wipe test, slit-lamp image, tear flow, and histology were evaluated. RT-PCR analyzed inflammatory and proliferation mediators. The findings were compared to naïve controls after 1 and 2 months (M1 and M2). G3 presented increased corneal sensitivity, and the 03 groups have shown corneal neovascularization. Histology revealed changes in LG, and corneal inflammation. In the LG, there was an increase in MMP-9 mRNA of G1 and G2 at M1 and M2 and RUNX-1 at M1 and M2 in G1 and RUNX-3 mRNA at M1 in G1, and in G2 at M2. TNF-α mRNA rose in the corneas of G1 and G2 at M2. There was an increase in the IL-1β mRNA in the Trigeminal Ganglion of G1 at M1. Without changes in tear flow or evidence of LG regeneration, LG ablation or grafting are unreliable models for dry eye or LG repair in rats. The surgical manipulation extended inflammation to the LFU.