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O presente estudo propõe o emprego da casca de arroz, sem (CA) e com pré-tratamento ácido (CAH+), como adsorvente de baixo custo na remoção de Cr(VI) em soluções aquosas. Caracterizações morfológicas, químicas e estruturais realizadas para ambos os adsorventes revelaram considerável grau de heterogeneidade superficial, tendência à amorficidade, baixa área superficial e presença de grupamentos característicos de sílica. Os ensaios de adsorção avaliaram a influência da dosagem de adsorvente, pH, concentração inicial de Cr(VI) e tempo de interação. Os parâmetros de adsorção otimizados foram: dosagem de adsorvente (5 g.L-1), pH (1,0), concentração inicial de cromo (5 mg.L-1) e tempo de interação (60 min). Os dados experimentais se ajustaram melhor à isoterma de Freundlich e ao modelo cinético de pseudo-segunda ordem, para ambos os adsorventes. Observou-se que ambos foram capazes de remover Cr(VI), entretanto, a CAH+ apresentou resultados superiores em todos os ensaios realizados. A capacidade de adsorção máxima de Cr(VI) encontrada para a casca de arroz sem pré-tratamento foi de 2,27 mg.g-1 e, para a casca de arroz com pré-tratamento, foi de 5,19 mg.g-1. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a casca de arroz, sem e com pré-tratamento, pode ser empregada como adsorvente alternativo aos adsorventes convencionalmente empregados, sendo eficiente, acessível e de baixo custo para a remoção de Cr(VI) em soluções aquosas. Palavras-chave: Casca de arroz; cromo hexavalente; adsorção; materiais lignocelulósicos. Abstract Application of rice husks as adsorbent for the removal of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions The present study proposes the use of rice husks, without (CA) and with acidic pretreatment (CAH+), as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) in aqueous solutions. Morphological, chemical, and structural characterizations performed for both adsorbents revealed a considerable degree of surface heterogeneity, a tendency toward amorphousness, low surface area, and the presence of characteristic silica clusters. In the adsorption experiments the influence of adsorbent dosage, pH, initial Cr(VI) concentration and interaction time was investigated. The optimized adsorption parameters were: adsorbent dosage (5 g.L-1), pH (1.0), initial chromium concentration (5 mg.L-1) and interaction time (60 min). The experimental data better fitted the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second order kinetic model for both adsorbents. It was found that both were able to remove Cr(VI), but CAH+ showed superior results in all tests performed. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) was 2.27 mg.g-1 in rice husks without pretreatment and 5.19 mg.g-1 in rice husks with pretreatment. The obtained results indicate that rice husks, without and with pretreatment can be used as an alternative adsorbent, as they are efficient, accessible and cost-effective for the removal of Cr(VI) in aqueous solutions. Keywords: Rice husk; hexavalent chromium; adsorption; lignocellulosic materials. Resumen Aplicación de cascarilla de arroz como adsorbente para la remoción de cromo hexavalente de soluciones acuosas El presente estudio propone el uso de cascarilla de arroz, sin (CA) y con pretratamiento ácido (CAH+), como adsorbente de bajo costo para la remoción de Cr(VI) en soluciones acuosas. Las caracterizaciones morfológicas, químicas y estructurales realizadas para ambos adsorbentes revelaron un grado considerable de heterogeneidad superficial, tendencia a la amorfización, baja área superficial y presencia de agregados de sílice característicos. Los ensayos de adsorción evaluaron la influencia de la dosis de adsorbente, el pH, la concentración inicial de Cr(VI) y el tiempo de interacción. Los parámetros de adsorción optimizados fueron: dosis de adsorbente (5 g.L-1), pH (1.0), concentración inicial de cromo (5 mg.L-1) y tiempo de interacción (60 min). Los datos experimentales se ajustan mejor a la isoterma de Freundlich y al modelo cinético de pseudo segundo orden, para ambos adsorbentes. Se observó que ambos fueron capaces de remover Cr(VI), sin embargo, CAH+ mostró resultados superiores en todas las pruebas realizadas. La máxima capacidad de adsorción de Cr(VI) encontrada para cascarilla de arroz sin pretratamiento fue de 2,27 mg.g-1 y para cascarilla de arroz con pretratamiento fue de 5,19 mg.g-1. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que la cascarilla de arroz, sin y con pretratamiento, puede ser utilizada como adsorbente alternativo a los adsorbentes convencionales, siendo eficiente, accesible y de bajo costo para la remoción de Cr(VI) en soluciones acuosas. Palabras clave: Cáscara de arroz; cromo hexavalente; adsorción; materiales lignocelulósicos.

Photodynamic treatment with methylene blue (MB) and visible light is a well-established pathogen inactivation system for human plasma. This technique is routinely used in different countries. MB/light treatment was shown to inactivate several transfusion-transmittable viruses, but its efficiency for the inactivation of the quasi-enveloped hepatitis E virus (HEV) has not yet been investigated.Plasma units were spiked with cell culture-derived HEV and treated with the THERAFLEX MB-Plasma system using various light doses (30, 60, 90, and 120 J/cmTHERAFLEX MB-Plasma efficiently inactivated HEV in human plasma. Even the lowest light dose of 30 J/cmOur study demonstrates that the THERAFLEX MB-Plasma system effectively inactivates HEV in human plasma.

O serviço de transportes está entre as atividades essenciais para o funcionamento da economia dos países. A problemática em torno deste estudo está na (in)solvência das empresas do setor de transporte e os impactos decorrentes da pandemia de Covid-19. Portanto, o objetivo do estudo consiste em analisar os indicadores econômico-financeiros do setor de transporte a fim de investigar se as empresas apresentam indícios de (in)solvência no período de 2019 a 2021 em decorrência da pandemia de Covid-19. A fundamentação teórica aborda aspectos sobre análise vertical e horizontal, indicadores econômicos e financeiros, bem como o fator de insolvência no modelo proposto por Kanitz. Quanto aos procedimentos metodológicos utilizou-se quanto aos objetivos, a abordagem descritiva, tendo como procedimentos o estudo multicascos, em que foram analisadas 12 empresas do setor de transporte (modais rodoviário, ferroviário, hidroviário e aéreo) listadas na B3, utilizando-se da pesquisa quantitativa quanto a abordagem do problema. Os resultados revelaram que as empresas do setor de transporte rodoviário, que é o mais utilizado no Brasil, apresentaram os melhores desempenhos econômico-financeiros no período de 2019 a 2021. Em contrapartida, as empresas do modal aéreo, que já vinham apresentando dificuldades antes 2019, foram as mais afetas pela pandemia. Apesar dos impactos gerados pela pandemia no âmbito econômico, nenhuma das empresas analisadas apresentou sinais nítidos de insolvência nos anos de 2020 e 2021. As contribuições do presente estudo foram no sentido de incrementar a literatura científica sobre o contexto da pandemia e os impactos econômico-financeiros causados nas empresas, sobretudo no setor de transporte. Para trabalhos futuros sugere-se que novas pesquisas sejam realizadas a fim de verificar se no período pós-covid as empresas do setor de transportes terão indicadores de desempenho melhores do que os obtidos neste período.

International audience; The emission of $\gamma$-rays after a neutron capture in a cryogenic detector can generate mono-energetic nuclear recoils in the sub-keV regime, of direct interest for the calibration of Dark Matter and Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering experiments. Here we show that accurate predictions of the nuclear recoil spectra induced by neutron captures require taking into account the interplay between the development in time of the de-excitation $\gamma$-cascade of the target nucleus and that of the associated atomic collisions in matter. We present detailed simulations coupling the FIFRELIN code for the description of the $\gamma$-cascades and the IRADINA code for the modelling of the fast atomic movements in matter. Nuclear recoil spectra are predicted, and made available to the community, for concrete cases of Al$_2$O$_3$, Si, Ge and CaWO$_4$ crystals exposed to a low intensity beam of thermal neutrons. We find that timing effects cause new calibration peaks to emerge in the recoil spectra and also impact the shape of the continuous recoil distribution. We discuss how they could give access to a rich physics program, spanning the accurate study of the response of cryogenic detectors in the sub-keV range, tests of solid state physics simulations and tests of nuclear models.

Vancomycin is a commonly used antibacterial agent in patients with primary central nervous system (CNS) infection. This study aims to examine predictors of vancomycin penetration into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with external ventricular drainage and the feasibility of CSF sampling from the distal drainage port for therapeutic drug monitoring.

New-generation direct searches for low mass dark matter feature detection thresholds at energies well below 100 eV, much lower than the energies of commonly used X-ray calibration sources. This requires new calibration sources with sub-keV energies. When searching for nuclear recoil signals, the calibration source should ideally cause mono-energetic nuclear recoils in the relevant energy range. Recently, a new calibration method based on the radiative neutron capture on $^{182}$W with subsequent de-excitation via single $\gamma$-emission leading to a nuclear recoil peak at 112 eV was proposed. The CRESST-III dark matter search operated several CaWO$_{4}$-based detector modules with detection thresholds below 100 eV in the past years. We report the observation of a peak around the expected energy of 112 eV in the data of three different detector modules recorded while irradiated with neutrons from different AmBe calibration sources. We compare the properties of the observed peaks with Geant-4 simulations and assess the prospects of using this for the energy calibration of CRESST-III detectors., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. D

CP model for the cobot assignment and (flexible) job shop scheduling problem

In the past decades, numerous experiments have emerged to unveil the nature of dark matter, one of the most discussed open questions in modern particle physics. Among them, the CRESST experiment, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, operates scintillating crystals as cryogenic phonon detectors. In this work, we present first results from the operation of two detector modules which both have 10.46 g LiAlO$_2$ targets in CRESST-III. The lithium contents in the crystal are $^6$Li, with an odd number of protons and neutrons, and $^7$Li, with an odd number of protons. By considering both isotopes of lithium and $^{27}$Al, we set the currently strongest cross section upper limits on spin-dependent interaction of dark matter with protons and neutrons for the mass region between 0.25 and 1.5 GeV/c$^2$., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

The emission of $γ$-rays after a neutron capture in a cryogenic detector can generate mono-energetic nuclear recoils in the sub-keV regime, of direct interest for the calibration of Dark Matter and Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering experiments. Here we show that accurate predictions of the nuclear recoil spectra induced by neutron captures require taking into account the interplay between the development in time of the de-excitation $γ$-cascade of the target nucleus and that of the associated atomic collisions in matter. We present detailed simulations coupling the FIFRELIN code for the description of the $γ$-cascades and the IRADINA code for the modelling of the fast atomic movements in matter. Nuclear recoil spectra are predicted, and made available to the community, for concrete cases of Al$_2$O$_3$, Si, Ge and CaWO$_4$ crystals exposed to a low intensity beam of thermal neutrons. We find that timing effects cause new calibration peaks to emerge in the recoil spectra and also impact the shape of the continuous recoil distribution. We discuss how they could give access to a rich physics program, spanning the accurate study of the response of cryogenic detectors in the sub-keV range, tests of solid state physics simulations and tests of nuclear models.

Background and Aims: Being the most common cause for acute viral hepatitis with more than 20 million cases per year and 70 000 deaths annually, hepatitis E virus (HEV) presents a long neglected and under-investigated health burden. Although the entry process of viral particles is an attractive target for pharmacological intervention, druggable host factors to restrict HEV entry have not been identified so far.Approach and Results: Here we identify the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as a novel host factor for HEV and reveal the significance of EGFR for the HEV entry process. By utilizing RNAi, chemical modulation with FDA-approved drugs and ectopic expression of EGFR, we revealed that EGFR is critical for HEV infection, without affecting HEV RNA replication or assembly of progeny virus. We further unveiled that EGFR itself and its ligand binding domain rather than its signaling function is responsible for the proviral effect. Modulation of EGF expression in HepaRG cells as well as primary human hepatocytes affected HEV infection.Conclusions: Taken together, our study provides novel insights into the life cycle of HEV and identified EGFR as a possible target for future anti-viral strategies against HEV.

Patient adherence to prescribed medications is critical to prevent progression of glaucoma. This review summarizes recent literature about glaucoma treatment adherence including current strategies to aid in medication administration and opportunities for improvement. Multiple studies have identified poor medication adherence as a major contributor to disease progression in glaucoma. There have been a variety of proposed and investigated techniques to improve adherence including eye drop monitors and reminders, patient education programs, eye drop delivery aids, and alternative medication delivery systems. Many approaches have shown promise in helping to improve medication adherence. A multifaceted and individualized patient treatment strategy is required to face this complex problem.

This study concerns the effect of hearing loss on discrimination of formant frequencies in vowels. In the response of the healthy ear to a harmonic sound, auditory-nerve (AN) rate functions fluctuate at the fundamental frequency, F0. Responses of inner-hair-cells (IHCs) tuned near spectral peaks are captured (or dominated) by a single harmonic, resulting in lower fluctuation depths than responses of IHCs tuned between spectral peaks. Therefore, the depth of neural fluctuations (NFs) varies along the tonotopic axis and encodes spectral peaks, including formant frequencies of vowels. This NF code is robust across a wide range of sound levels and in background noise. The NF profile is converted into a rate-place representation in the auditory midbrain, wherein neurons are sensitive to low-frequency fluctuations. The NF code is vulnerable to sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) because capture depends upon saturation of IHCs, and thus the interaction of cochlear gain with IHC transduction. In this study, formant-frequency discrimination limens (DLFFs) were estimated for listeners with normal hearing or mild to moderate SNHL. The F0 was fixed at 100 Hz, and formant peaks were either aligned with harmonic frequencies or placed between harmonics. Formant peak frequencies were 600 and 2000 Hz, in the range of first and second formants of several vowels. The difficulty of the task was varied by changing formant bandwidth to modulate the contrast in the NF profile. Results were compared to predictions from model auditory-nerve and inferior colliculus (IC) neurons, with listeners’ audiograms used to individualize the AN model. Correlations between DLFFs, audiometric thresholds near the formant frequencies, age, and scores on the Quick speech-in-noise test are reported. SNHL had a strong effect on DLFFfor the second formant frequency (F2), but relatively small effect on DLFFfor the first formant (F1). The IC model appropriately predicted substantial threshold elevations for changes in F2 as a function of SNHL and little effect of SNHL on thresholds for changes in F1.

To compare a nose-pivoted drop delivery device (NPDD) with traditional eye drop delivery in glaucoma subjects.Repeated-measures case series.Fifty glaucoma subjects (100 eyes) who reported difficulty self-administering eye drops.We compared eye drop delivery using a NPDD against traditional delivery techniques at baseline (baseline traditional) and after standardized teaching (post-teaching traditional). Subjects used a 1-to-10 scale (10 being easiest) to rate the ease of delivery with each technique and completed a satisfaction survey. Two graders used digital video to independently review eye drop delivery and recorded: (1) accurate placement: the eye drop reached the ocular surface; (2) no contact: no bottle tip contact against the ocular or periocular surface; and (3)number of eye drops dispensed. We defined primary success as accurate placement and no contact; secondary success as primary success with only 1 drop dispensed.We used logistic-transformed generalized estimating equation (GEE) regression to compare technique satisfaction, accuracy, no contact, and primary and secondary success. Number of drops dispensed was compared using a Cox model.Forty-seven of 50 subjects (94%) preferred the NPDD over traditional eye drop delivery. The mean score for ease of use was higher for the NPDD (8.9 ± 1.1) than baseline traditional (6.7 ± 2.1; P0.001) and post-teaching traditional (7.0 ± 2.0; P0.001). Forty-nine of 50 (98%) subjects thought the NPDD was comfortable to use and would recommend the device. The eye drop reached the ocular surface in a similar percentage of subjects (90%) with each method. The bottle tip contacted fewer eyes with the NPDD (10 eyes) than baseline traditional (33 eyes; P0.001) and post-teaching traditional (25 eyes; P = 0.009). The number of drops dispensed was lower with the NPDD (1.7 ± 1.2) than baseline traditional (2.2 ± 1.6; P = 0.017) and post-teaching traditional (2.4 ± 1.8; P = 0.006). The NPDD increased primary and secondary success of eye drop delivery (86% and 54%, respectively) compared to baseline traditional (66% [P = 0.001] and 28% [P0.001]) and post-teaching traditional (70% [P = 0.005] and 40% [P = 0.018]).Eye drop users preferred the NPDD over traditional eye drop delivery. The NPDD improved eye drop delivery success, reduced bottle tip contact, and decreased the number of eye drops wasted.

CRESST is a leading direct detection sub-$\mathrm{GeVc}^{-2}$ dark matter experiment. During its second phase, cryogenic bolometers were used to detect nuclear recoils off the $\mathrm{CaWO}_4$ target crystal nuclei. The previously established electromagnetic background model relies on secular equilibrium (SE) assumptions. In this work, a validation of SE is attempted by comparing two likelihood-based normalisation results using a recently developed spectral template normalisation method based on Bayesian likelihood. We find deviations from SE; further investigations are necessary to determine their origin., Part of special issue: ICRM-LLRMT22 8th International Conference on Radionuclide Metrology - Low Level Radioactivity Measurement and Techniques, 6 pages, 3 figures

BACKGROUND In patient care, data are historically generated and stored in heterogeneous databases that are domain specific and are often non-interoperable or isolated. As the amount of health data increases, the number of isolated data silos is also expected to grow, limiting the accessibility of collected data. Medical Informatics is developing ways to move from siloed data to a more harmonized arrangement in information architectures. This paradigm shift will allow future research to integrate medical data at many levels and from various sources. Currently comprehensive requirements engineering is working on data integration projects both in a patient care- and research-oriented context and they are significantly contributing to the success of such data integration projects. In addition to various stakeholder-based methods, document-based requirements elicitation is a valid method to improve the scope and quality of requirements. OBJECTIVE Our main objective is to provide a general set of functional requirements for medical data integration into knowledge management environments. We aim to identify where integration projects intersect to derive consistent and representative functional requirements from literature. Based on these findings, we identify which functional requirements for data integration exist in the literature and thus provide a generic blueprint of requirements. METHODS This work begins by conducting a literature-based requirement elicitation based on a holistic requirement engineering approach. We thus first perform a web based systematic literature review to identify published articles that deal with requirements for medical data integration. We identify and analyze the available literature by applying the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines and screen the results for functional requirements using the requirements engineering method of document analysis and derive requirements into a uniform requirement syntax. Finally, we classify the elicited requirements into a category scheme that represents the data life cycle. RESULTS Our systematic literature search yielded 821 articles of which we include 61 articles in the requirements elicitation process. There we identify a total of 217 requirements, which are covered by a total of 314 references. We assign the requirements to the different data life cycle categories as follows: 56 to the Data Acquisition, 77 to Data Processing, 26 to Data Storage, 20 to Data Analysis, 14 to Metadata Management, 5 to Data Lineage, 7 to Data Traceability, and 12 to the category Data Security. CONCLUSIONS The aim of this work is to present a cross-section of functional data integration related requirements defined in literature by other researchers. The aim is achieved with 217 distinct requirements from a total of 61 publications. We conclude that scientific publications are in principle a reliable source of information for functional requirements with respect to medical data integration. Finally, we provide a generic blueprint to support other scientists in the requirements elicitation phase.

The NUCLEUS experiment aims to perform a high-precision measurement of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS) at the EdF Chooz B nuclear power plant in France. CEvNS is a unique process to study neutrino properties and to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. The study of CEvNS is also important for light Dark-Matter searches. It could be a possible irreducible background for high-sensitivity Dark-Matter searches. NUCLEUS is an experiment under construction based on ultra-low threshold (20 eVnr) cryogenic calorimeters, operated at tens-of-mK temperatures., Procceding for 14th International Conference on Identification of Dark Matter Vienna, Austria, 18-22 July 2022 - Submitted to SciPost

International audience; NUCLEUS is an experiment conceived for the detection of thecoherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering. The experiment will be carried out in the nuclear power plant of Chooz-B in France that provides an intense flux of anti-neutrinos.The aim of NUCLEUS is to perform a very precise measurement of the coherent elastic scattering below 100 eV by employing extremely sensitive cryogenic detectors based on CaWO$_4$ and Al$_2$O$_3$ target crystals.At present, the NUCLEUS apparatus is in commissioning phaseat the Underground Laboratory of the Technical University Munich, where - after its installation and the first measurement phase - the experiment will be fully tested. Thereafter the entire apparatus will be moved to the reactor site at Chooz.

Background Modified Lapidus arthrodesis (MLA) is a well-established treatment option for symptomatic hallux valgus deformity (HVD). However, recurrence of the deformity remains a concern. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of an additional intermetatarsal fusion on the radiographic recurrence rate after first tarsometatarsal (TMT-I) arthrodesis. Methods This is a retrospective evaluation of 56 feet that underwent TMT-I arthrodesis for moderate to severe HVD. Twenty-three feet received an isolated arthrodesis of the TMT-I joint (TMT-I), whereas 33 feet received an additional fusion between the base of the first and the second metatarsal bone (TMT-I/II). Various radiological parameters were determined preoperatively, 6 weeks and at a mean of 2 years postoperatively. Results The intermetatarsal angle (IMA) and the hallux valgus angle (HVA) were significantly lowered at both follow-up evaluations in both groups. In the TMT-I/II group, the initial reduction of HVA was significantly higher (29.3° vs 21.1°). This difference disappeared by the second follow-up, leaving no significant differences between both techniques at final follow-up. Radiological recurrence rates of HVD were comparable in both groups. Conclusions Isolated TMT-I arthrodesis provides reliable radiological results in the correction of HVD. Whether additional fusion of the first and second metatarsal base should be routinely performed remains unclear. Levels of Evidence: Level 3

In the present study, the thermal cycling stability of mirrors made of silicon particle reinforced aluminum compounds, containing an amount of 42 ± 2 wt.% silicon particles, is investigated with respect to thermal loading. The compound is processed by single-point diamond turning to optical mirrors that were subsequently thermally cycled in a temperature range between 40 °C to −60 °C and between 20 °C and −196 °C, respectively. The residual shape change of the optical surface was analyzed using Fizeau interferometry at room temperature. The change of shape deviation of the mirrors is compared with dilatometric studies of cylinders using the same temperature regime. Due to different coefficients of thermal expansion of the two constituents of the compound, thermal mismatch stresses in the ductile aluminum matrix and the brittle silicon particles are induced by the investigated thermal loads. The plasticity that occurs causes the formation of dislocations and stacking faults as substantiated by Transmission Electron Microscopy. It could be shown that the silicon particles lead to the cold working process of the reinforced aluminum matrix upon thermal cycling. By using interferometry, a higher dimensional stability of mirrors made of silicon particle reinforced aluminum due to thermal loads is demonstrated.

O objetivo deste artigo é compreender quais percursos podem ser explorados em termos de escolhas teórico-metodológicas com relação a Teoria Ator-Rede (TAR) e quais os desdobramentos destas escolhas no campo da pesquisa em Administração no Brasil. Para tal, analisou-se qualitativamente como a TAR foi utilizada em 24 teses provenientes de Programas de Pós-Graduação em Administração brasileiros. Ao final, apontamos a existência de dois percursos: um que se aproxima e outro que se afasta da ontologia relacional e da abordagem processual da TAR. Esses caminhos se distinguem entre "usar a TAR" ou "participar da agência da TAR”.

Nowadays many manufacturing companies try to improve the performance of their processes by including innovative available technologies such as collaborative robots. Collaborative robots are robots where no safety distance is necessary, through cooperation with human workers they can increase production speed. In this paper we consider the collaborative robot assignment combined with the job shop scheduling problem. To solve this problem, we propose a genetic algorithm with a biased random-key encoding. The objective function for the optimization is a weighted function that factors in production cost and makespan that should be minimized. We propose a special encoding of the solution: the assignment of cobots to workstations, the assignment of tasks to different workstations and the priority of tasks. The results show how much the weighted objective function can be decreased by the deployment of additional collaborative robots in a real-world production line. Additionally, the biased random-key encoded results are compared to typical integer encoded solution. With the biased random-key encoding, we were able to find better results than with the standard integer encoding.

PLOS ONE 17(1), e0262110 (2022). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262110, Published by PLOS, San Francisco, California, US

In Brazil, the buffalo milk market has been growing. However, identity and quality standards have not been established for this raw material, nor have proper distinctions between buffalo milk and bovine milk been defined. Currently, the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) has only three producers that supply raw material for officially marketed derivatives. The aim of this study was to determine the identity and quality standards of raw buffalo milk in this region. Samples were obtained biweekly from three farm cooling tanks between June 2017 and August 2018, to reach a total of 69 samples. The averages for the results of the physicochemical parameters fat, protein, lactose, total solids, SNF (solids-not-fat), calcium, density, FP, acidity and SCC were 5.5 g/100 g, 4.06 g/100 g, 5.07 g/100 g, 15.5 g/100 g, 9.96 g/100 g, 0.161 g/100 g, 1.034 g/ml, −0.527°C, 16°D and 95 × 103 cells/ml, respectively. With reference to the microbiological parameters, the mean of the Standard Plate Count (SPC) and thermotolerant coliforms were 9,0 × 104 CFU/ml and 1.6 × 102 MPN/ml, respectively. Regarding coagulase-positive staphylococci, 36 samples tested positive (52% of total). Neither Salmonella spp. nor Listeria monocytogenes, nor antibiotic or antiparasitic residues were detected in any sample. In conclusion, the buffalo milk used as raw material for dairy products in southern Brazil demonstrated satisfactory physicochemical and microbiological characteristics, in accordance with recent scientific literature.

International audience; Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS) offers a unique way to study neutrino properties and to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. The NUCLEUS experiment aims at measuring the CE$\nu$NS signal from reactor antineutrinos using newly developed cryogenic detectors with ultra-low recoil energy threshold. The experiment is currently under construction for a blank assembly and later planned to be installed in between the two 4.25 GW$_{\text{th}}$ nuclear reactors of the Chooz B power plant in the French Ardennes. This proceeding presents an overview of the first phase of the NUCLEUS experiment. A general description of the experimental apparatus and its expected sensitivity to the CE$\nu$NS is provided.

CRESST is one of the most prominent direct detection experiments for dark matter particles with sub-GeV/c $$^2$$ 2 mass. One of the advantages of the CRESST experiment is the possibility to include a large variety of nuclides in the target material used to probe dark matter interactions. In this work, we discuss in particular the interactions of dark matter particles with protons and neutrons of $$^{6}$$ 6 Li. This is now possible thanks to new calculations on nuclear matrix elements of this specific isotope of Li. To show the potential of using this particular nuclide for probing dark matter interactions, we used the data collected previously by a CRESST prototype based on LiAlO $$_2$$ 2 and operated in an above ground test-facility at Max-Planck-Institut für Physik in Munich, Germany. In particular, the inclusion of $$^{6}$$ 6 Li in the limit calculation drastically improves the result obtained for spin-dependent interactions with neutrons in the whole mass range. The improvement is significant, greater than two order of magnitude for dark matter masses below 1 GeV/c $$^2$$ 2 , compared to the limit previously published with the same data.

CRESST is one of the most prominent direct detection experiments for dark matter particles with sub-GeV/c$$^2$$ 2 mass. One of the advantages of the CRESST experiment is the possibility to include a large variety of nuclides in the target material used to probe dark matter interactions. In this work, we discuss in particular the interactions of dark matter particles with protons and neutrons of $$^{6}$$ 6 Li. This is now possible thanks to new calculations on nuclear matrix elements of this specific isotope of Li. To show the potential of using this particular nuclide for probing dark matter interactions, we used the data collected previously by a CRESST prototype based on LiAlO$$_2$$ 2 and operated in an above ground test-facility at Max-Planck-Institut für Physik in Munich, Germany. In particular, the inclusion of $$^{6}$$ 6 Li in the limit calculation drastically improves the result obtained for spin-dependent interactions with neutrons in the whole mass range. The improvement is significant, greater than two order of magnitude for dark matter masses below 1 GeV/c$$^2$$ 2 , compared to the limit previously published with the same data.

CRESST is one of the most prominent direct detection experiments for dark matter particles with sub-GeV/c$^2$ mass. One of the advantages of the CRESST experiment is the possibility to include a large variety of nuclides in the target material used to probe dark matter interactions. In this work, we discuss in particular the interactions of dark matter particles with protons and neutrons of $^{6}$Li. This is now possible thanks to new calculations on nuclear matrix elements of this specific isotope of Li. To show the potential of using this particular nuclide for probing dark matter interactions, we used the data collected previously by a CRESST prototype based on LiAlO$_2$ and operated in an above ground test-facility at Max-Planck-Institut f\"ur Physik in Munich, Germany. In particular, the inclusion of $^{6}$Li in the limit calculation drastically improves the result obtained for spin-dependent interactions with neutrons in the whole mass range. The improvement is significant, greater than two order of magnitude for dark matter masses below 1 GeV/c$^2$, compared to the limit previously published with the same data.

We present limits on the spin-independent interaction cross section of dark matter particles with silicon nuclei, derived from data taken with a cryogenic calorimeter with 0.35 g target mass operated in the CRESST-III experiment. A baseline nuclear recoil energy resolution of $(1.36\pm 0.05)$ eV$_{\text{nr}}$, currently the lowest reported for macroscopic particle detectors, and a corresponding energy threshold of $(10.0\pm 0.2)$ eV$_{\text{nr}}$ have been achieved, improving the sensitivity to light dark matter particles with masses below 160 MeV/c$^2$ by a factor of up to 20 compared to previous results. We characterize the observed low energy excess, and we exclude noise triggers and radioactive contaminations on the crystal surfaces as dominant contributions., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; precised the position of the calibration source in Fig. 1; extended the discussion about the observed energy spectrum; added the DM limit curve to ancillary files. Published in Phys. Rev. D

International audience; Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and low-mass Dark Matter detectors rely crucially on the understanding of their response to nuclear recoils. We report the first observation of a nuclear recoil peak at around 112 eV induced by neutron capture. The measurement was performed with a CaWO$_4$ cryogenic detector from the NUCLEUS experiment exposed to a $^{252}$Cf source placed in a compact moderator. The measured spectrum is found in agreement with simulations and the expected peak structure from the single-$\gamma$ de-excitation of $^{183}$W is identified with 3 $\sigma$ significance. This result demonstrates a new method for precise, in-situ, and non-intrusive calibration of low-threshold experiments.

Sturmschäden in Wäldern sind ein altes Problem der Forstwirtschaft und kehren immer wieder, doch der Sturm "Lothar" richtete in der Mittagszeit des 26. Dezember 1999 Schäden an, wie man sie bisher nicht kannte. Ein Vergleich der vorläufig geschätzten Schadholzmengen mit denen der bisherigen Jahrhundertstürme "Vivian" und "Wiebke" 1990 macht dies deullich. Während 1990 weite Teile Europas betroffen waren und die Schäden durch mehrere Stürme von Januar bis März verursacht wurden, wütete Lothar nur kurz und fast ausschließlich in Ostfrankreich und Baden-Württemberg. Der Sturm war so heftig, dass nicht nur die besonders sturmgefährdete Baumart Fichte sondern in den Hauptsturmgassen auch stabilere Baumarten wie Tanne, Eiche und andere Laubbäume, ja selbst Jungbestände geworfen und gebrochen wurden. Im Bereich der Forstdirektion Freiburg beträgt der vorhandene Baumartenanteil 68 % Nadelbäume und 32 % Laubbäume. Demgegenüber entfielen 77 % des Sturmholzes auf Nadelbäume und 23 % auf Laubbäume.

The CRESST experiment observes an unexplained excess of events at low energies. In the current CRESST-III data-taking campaign we are operating detector modules with different designs to narrow down the possible explanations. In this work, we show first observations of the ongoing measurement, focusing on the comparison of time, energy and temperature dependence of the excess in several detectors. These exclude dark matter, radioactive backgrounds and intrinsic sources related to the crystal bulk as a major contribution., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; to be published in IDM2022 proceedings; corrected several minor typos

International audience; Coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering is a promising new tool in the toolbox of electroweak precision measurements at low q-transfer. It will enable precise measurements of standard model (SM) physics like the running of the Weinberg angle but also the search for new physics beyond the SM like sterile neutrinos. The Nucleus experiment aims at the first detection of fully coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering at the Chooz power plant in France, using its two 4GW$_{th}$ reactor cores as high-intensity source for anti-neutrinos. For this endeavour a new experimental site, the Very Near Site (VNS), with a shallow rock overburden of $\approx {3}$ m w.e. is under development. To be competitive in this challenging environment, Nucleus developed the novel concept of fiducialised cryogenic bolometers based on CaWO$_4$ monocrystals operated at $\mathscr {O}$(10 mK). The signature of a coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering is a nuclear recoil at the 10 eV-scale. Currently, Nucleus is preparing its first phase with 10 g of target mass at the VNS. In this contribution, we will first introduce Nucleus, report its current state and give an outlook to its future.

Die Dissertation begibt sich auf die Suche nach Hinweisen für mögliche Medienwirkungseffekte von Serien auf die Karrieren von Universitätsstudierenden. Dies geschieht anhand der Analyse von Beziehungen zwischen Serienkonsum, Studienwahlentscheidungen und Karriereerwartungen von 1.353 Studierenden der Fachbereiche Rechtswissenschaften, Polizeivollzugsdienst, Medizin, Politikwissenschaft und Betriebswirtschaftslehre. Die Datenanalyse zeigt, dass Serienkonsum und Studiengang in fast allen Fachbereichen zusammenhängen. Weitere Beziehungen zwischen Serien und Karriere sind besonders bei Erstsemesterstudierenden prominent sowie bei den Studierenden, deren zukünftige Professionen ein eindeutiges Berufsbild haben und häufig in Serien dargestellt werden. Nichtsdestotrotz ist der Serienkonsum nicht problematisch für die Karriereentwicklung während des Studiums. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eher studiengangspezifische Bestärkungseffekte und das Generieren von arbeitsintensiveren Karriereerwartungen., This dissertation searches for indicators of media effects on university student career development by identifying relationships between series consumption, choice actions and outcome expectations. 1,353 students studying Law, Law Enforcement, Medicine, Political Science and Business Administration in MŸnster, Germany were surveyed for this purpose. The data suggests that series consumption and study programme are related for students of almost all study fields. Series-career relationships are especially prominent among first-semester students and students studying to work in professional fields which have clear occupational profiles and are frequently portrayed in series. However, series consumption does not go along with systematic patterns which lead to problems in career decision processes. Findings rather indicate singular study programme-specific effects which have the potential to reinforce career decisions and generate a more workload-intense career expectation., List of Tables and Figures ................... I Abbreviations .................................................. V 1 Introduction ........................................... 1 2 Television Series ........................ 7 2.1 Defining Series by Form ...................................... 8 2.2 Defining Series by Content ............................ 13 3 A Dual Perspective on Series-Career Relationships ............ 15 3.1 Perspective of Career Theories .................... 15 3.1.1 The Life-Designing Paradigm ............................. 16 3.1.2 Major Perspectives on Career Theories .......................... 19 3.1.3 Social Cognitive Career Theory ..................... 23 3.2 Perspective on Mass Media Processes ....................... 31 3.2.1 Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication .............. 31 3.2.2 Cultivation Theory .............................................. 36 3.2.3 Uses and Gratifications Approach ............... 42 3.2.4 Parasocial Relationship Theory ..................... 47 4 Research Field and Research Questions ......................... 53 4.1 Literature Overview and Research Gap ........................ 53 4.2 Research Goal and Research Understanding .................. 56 4.3 Delimitation of the Research Project............................... 57 4.4 Research Questions ........................................ 59 5 Research Design ...................................... 65 5.1 Derivation of Constructs ........................................ 65 5.1.1 Constructs of Career Development ........................... 66 5.1.2 Constructs of Mass Media Processes ................................ 70 5.2 Pre-Study .......................................... 73 5.2.1 Methods ......................................... 74 5.2.2 Interview Guide ........................................ 75 5.2.3 Qualitative Data Analysis ........................... 77 5.2.4 Qualitative Results: Scale Development ........................ 80 5.2.5 Qualitative Results and Discussion: Research Question ................ 92 5.3 Main Study ............................................ 95 5.3.1 Survey Design ............................................. 95 5.3.2 Sampling Method ............................................ 98 5.3.3 Sample ........................................... 99 5.3.4 Data Collection ................... 102 5.4 Measures .............................................. 102 5.4.1 Questionnaire Cohort 1: First-Semester Students.................. 103 5.4.2 Questionnaire Cohort 2: Degree Candidates ...................... 106 5.5 Data Analysis ...................................................... 111 5.5.1 Series Categorisation .............................................. 111 5.5.2 Data Preparation ............................................ 113 5.5.3 Statistical Analysis Applied .......................................... 114 5.5.4 Conceptualisation of Regression Analyses ..................... 116 6 Results and Discussion ............................................ 121 6.1 Cohort 1: First-Semester Students ....................................... 121 6.1.1 Law .............................................................. 130 6.1.2 Law Enforcement....................................................... 134 6.1.3 Political Science .............................................. 140 6.1.4 Medicine .................................................... 141 6.1.5 Business Administration .............................................. 147 6.1.6 Summary .................................................................. 151 6.2 Cohort 2: Degree Candidates ..................................... 152 6.2.1 Law ............................................................ 161 6.2.2 Law Enforcement.............................................. 167 6.2.3 Political Science ........................................... 171 6.2.4 Medicine ............................................................ 175 6.2.5 Business Administration ......................................... 179 6.2.6 Summary ..................................................... 181 6.3 Inter-Cohort Analysis ............................................... 183 6.3.1 Law ......................................................... 188 6.3.2 Law Enforcement.............................................. 189 6.3.3 Political Science ........................................ 191 6.3.4 Medicine ............................................. 193 6.3.5 Business Administration .................................... 195 7 Conclusion ................................................. 199 7.1 Summary ..................................... 199 7.2 Limitations ....................................... 201 7.3 Implications for Future Research ...................... 205 7.4 Concluding Discussion in the Context of Practice ............ 207 Bibliography ........................................... 211 Declaration of Originality ............................ 231 Appendix ...................................... 233

Background & Aims: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide and is mainly transmitted via the fecal-oral route or through consumption of contaminated food products. Due to the lack of efficient cell culture systems for the propagation of HEV, limited data regarding its sensitivity to chemical disinfectants are available. Consequently, preventive and evidence-based hygienic guidelines on HEV disinfection are lacking. Methods: We used a robust HEV genotype 3 cell culture model which enables quantification of viral infection of quasi-enveloped and naked HEV particles. For HEV genotype 1 infections, we used the primary isolate Sar55 in a fecal suspension. Standardized quantitative suspension tests using end point dilution and large-volume plating were performed for the determination of virucidal activity of alcohols (1-propanol, 2-propanol, ethanol), WHO disinfectant formulations and 5 different commercial hand disinfectants against HEV. Iodixanol gradients were conducted to elucidate the influence of ethanol on quasi-enveloped viral particles. Results: Naked and quasi-enveloped HEV was resistant to alcohols as well as alcohol-based formulations recommended by the WHO. Of the tested commercial hand disinfectants only 1 product displayed virucidal activity against HEV. This activity could be linked to phosphoric acid as an essential ingredient. Finally, we observed that ethanol and possibly non-active alcohol-based disinfectants disrupt the quasi-envelope structure of HEV particles, while leaving the highly transmissible and infectious naked virions intact. Conclusions: Different alcohols and alcohol-based hand disinfectants were insufficient to eliminate HEV infectivity with the exception of 1 commercial ethanol-based product that included phosphoric acid. These findings have major implications for the development of measures to reduce viral transmission in clinical practice. Lay summary: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) showed a high level of resistance to alcohols and alcohol-based hand disinfectants. The addition of phosphoric acid to alcohol was essential for virucidal activity against HEV. This information should be used to guide improved hygiene measures for the prevention of HEV transmission.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections are a leading cause of acute viral hepatitis in humans and pose a considerable threat to public health. Current standard of care treatment is limited to the off-label use of nucleoside-analog ribavirin (RBV) and PEGylated interferon-α, both of which are associated with significant side effects and provide limited efficacy. In the past few years, a promising natural product compound class of eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A) inhibitors (translation initiation inhibitors), called rocaglates, were identified as antiviral agents against RNA virus infections. In the present study, we evaluated a total of 205 synthetic rocaglate derivatives from the BU-CMD compound library for their antiviral properties against HEV. At least eleven compounds showed inhibitory activities against the HEV genotype 3 (HEV-3) subgenomic replicon below 30 nM (EC50 value) as determined by Gaussia luciferase assay. Three amidino-rocaglates (ADRs) (CMLD012073, CMLD012118, and CMLD012612) possessed antiviral activity against HEV with EC50 values between 1 and 9 nM. In addition, these three selected compounds inhibited subgenomic replicons of different genotypes (HEV-1 [Sar55], wild boar HEV-3 [83-2] and human HEV-3 [p6]) in a dose-dependent manner and at low nanomolar concentrations. Furthermore, tested ADRs tend to be better tolerated in primary hepatocytes than hepatoma cancer cell lines and combination treatment of CMLD012118 with RBV and interferon-α (IFN-α) showed that CMLD012118 acts additive to RBV and IFN-α treatment. In conclusion, our results indicate that ADRs, especially CMLD012073, CMLD012118, and CMLD012612 may prove to be potential therapeutic candidates for the treatment of HEV infections and may contribute to the discovery of pan-genotypic inhibitors in the future. © 2022 The Author(s)

In this work, a first cryogenic characterization of a scintillating $$\hbox {LiAlO}_{2}$$ LiAlO 2 single crystal is presented. The results achieved show that this material holds great potential as a target for direct dark matter search experiments. Three different detector modules obtained from one crystal grown at the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ) have been tested to study different properties at cryogenic temperatures. Firstly, two 2.8 g twin crystals were used to build different detector modules which were operated in an above-ground laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) in Munich, Germany. The first detector module was used to study the scintillation properties of $$\hbox {LiAlO}_{2}$$ LiAlO 2 at cryogenic temperatures. The second achieved an energy threshold of ( $$213.02\pm 1.48$$ 213.02 ± 1.48 ) eV which allows setting a competitive limit on the spin-dependent dark matter particle-proton scattering cross section for dark matter particle masses between $$350\,\hbox {MeV/c}^{2}$$ 350 MeV/c 2 and $$1.50\,\hbox {GeV/c}^{2}$$ 1.50 GeV/c 2 . Secondly, a detector module with a 373 g $$\hbox {LiAlO}_{2}$$ LiAlO 2 crystal as the main absorber was tested in an underground facility at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS): from this measurement it was possible to determine the radiopurity of the crystal and study the feasibility of using this material as a neutron flux monitor for low-background experiments.

In this article, we report on the magnetic structure of DyFe11Ti and its thermal evolution as probed by neutron powder diffraction. A thermodiffraction technique was used to follow the temperature dependence of the magnetic moments, as well as their orientation. The Dy and Fe moments were coupled to each other in an antiparallel manner to form a ferrimagnet, where the easy magnetization direction at 2 K was the [110] axis in the basal (a, b) plane. This magnetic structure underwent two successive spin reorientation phenomena with increasing temperature. A large Dy magnetic moment of 9.7 Bohr magneton (μB) was obtained at low temperatures, and the magnitude decreased rapidly to 7.5μB at 200 K. The largest Fe magnetic moment was observed on the Fe 8i position. A ThMn12-type crystal structure was preserved in the studied temperature range, despite the large changes of the magnetic structure. A sharp tilt was observed at the first-order spin reorientation, TSR1; the angle between the easy magnetization axis and the crystal c axis was reduced from 90° at 2 K to about 20° at 200 K (where c is the easy axis above 200 K); and the Dy and Fe magnetic moments maintained an antiparallel coupling. Keywords: Neutron diffraction, Magnetic phase diagram, Crystal structure

The Nucleus experiment aims to measure coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering of reactor anti-neutrinos using cryogenic calorimeters. Operating at an overburden of 3 meters of water equivalent, muon-induced backgrounds are expected to be one of the dominant background contributions. Besides a high efficiency to identify muon events passing the experimental setup, the Nucleus muon veto has to fulfill tight spatial requirements to fit the constraints given by the experimental site and to minimize the induced detector dead-time. We developed highly efficient and compact muon veto modules based on plastic scintillators equipped with wavelength shifting fibers and silicon photo multipliers to collect and detect the scintillation light. In this paper, we present the full characterization of a prototype module with different light read-out configurations. We conclude that an efficient and compact muon veto system can be built for the Nucleus experiment from a cube assembly of the developed modules. Simulations show that an efficiency for muon identification of >99 % and an associated rate of 325 Hz is achievable, matching the requirements of the Nucleus experiment.