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Chronic pancreatitis is associated with impaired quality of life, high incidence of comorbidities, serious complications and mortality. Healthcare costs are exorbitant. Some medical societies have developed guidelines for treatment based on scientific evidence, but the gathered level of evidence for any individual topic is usually low and, therefore, recommendations tend to be vague or weak. In the present position papers on chronic pancreatitis from the Societat Catalana de Digestologia and the Societat Catalana de Pàncrees we aimed at providing defined position statements for the clinician based on updated review of published literature and on multidisciplinary expert agreement. The final goal is to propose the use of common terminology and rational diagnostic/therapeutic circuits based on current knowledge. To this end 51 sections related to chronic pancreatitis were reviewed by 21 specialists from 6 different fields to generate 88 statements altogether. Statements were designed to harmonize concepts or delineate recommendations. Part 2 of these paper series discuss topics on treatment and follow-up. The therapeutic approach should include assessment of etiological factors, clinical manifestations and complications. The complexity of these patients advocates for detailed evaluation in multidisciplinary committees where conservative, endoscopic, interventional radiology or surgical options are weighed. Specialized multidisciplinary units of Pancreatology should be constituted. Indications for surgery are refractory pain, local complications, and suspicion of malignancy. Enzyme replacement therapy is indicated if evidence of exocrine insufficiency or after pancreatic surgery. Response should be evaluated by nutritional parameters and assessment of symptoms. A follow-up program should be planned for every patient with chronic pancreatitis. © 2021 Elsevier España, S.L.U.

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) are emerging as prominent platform for disease detection, specifically in developing countries. This paper device offers simplicity and affordability not typically seen in centralized laboratory settings. However, detection limits in μPADs are inadequate and often require tests results to be read within a specific time interval to ensure accuracy. To overcome these challenges, we are developing an on-chip mass spectrometry (MS) detection strategy for immunoassays performed on paper substrates. Herein, we present our initial results from a proof-of-concept study toward the development of μPADs capable of storing immunoassay reagents within the confinements of the 3D device, automatic splitting of biofluid into four individual test zones, immuno-capture of disease biomarker, and on-chip MS detection of captured species. The reported study encourages the development of point-of-care and direct-to-customer testing using the disposable μPAD to collect samples, followed by sensitive analysis using portable mass spectrometers. We demonstrate this capability using malaria Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) antigen detection.

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the recycling of organic materials such as paper mill biosolids (PB) and biochar for use as soil amendments. However, the benefits of co-application of PB and biochar and its effects on soil phosphorus (P) availability remain unknown. An incubation study was conducted on two acidic soils to assess the effect of two PB types (2.5% w/w) co-applied with three rates (0%, 2.5%, and 5% w/w) of pine (Pinus strobus L.) biochar on soil P fractions. An unfertilized control and a mineral NP fertilizer were used as a reference. Soil P fractions were determined by Hedley procedure after 2 and 16 wk of incubation. Material fractionation indicated that the PB containing the highest total P and the lowest Al content had the highest proportion of labile P, whereas most P in the biochar was in a stable form. The incubation study revealed that the P-rich PB increased P availability in both soils to a level comparable to mineral fertilizer at the end of the incubation. The addition of biochar to PB, however, did not affect soil P availability, but the highest rate induced a conversion of P fixed to Al and Fe oxides towards recalcitrant forms, particularly in the sandy loam soil. We conclude that co-applying biochar and PB could be more beneficial than application biochar alone and soils amended with such a mixture would be expected to release part of their P slowly over a longer period of time.

Objective The purpose of this study was to develop a natural language processing (NLP) pipeline to identify incidental thyroid nodules (ITNs) meeting criteria for sonographic follow-up and to assess both adherence rates to white paper recommendations and downstream outcomes related to these incidental findings. Methods 21583 non-contrast chest CT reports from 2017 and 2018 were retrospectively evaluated to identify reports which included either an explicit recommendation for thyroid ultrasound, a description of a nodule ≥ 1.5 cm, or description of a nodule with suspicious features. Reports from 2018 were used to train an NLP algorithm called fastText for automated identification of such reports. Algorithm performance was then evaluated on the 2017 reports. Next, any patient from 2017 with a report meeting criteria for ultrasound follow-up was further evaluated with manual chart review to determine follow-up adherence rates and nodule-related outcomes. Results NLP identified reports with ITNs meeting criteria for sonographic follow-up with an accuracy of 96.5% (95% CI 96.2-96.7) and sensitivity of 92.1% (95% CI 89.8-94.3). In 10006 chest CTs from 2017, ITN follow-up ultrasound was indicated according to white paper criteria in 81 patients (0.8%), explicitly recommended in 46.9% (38/81) of patients, and obtained in less than half of patients in which it was appropriately recommended (17/35, 48.6%). Discussion NLP accurately identified chest CT reports meeting criteria for ITN ultrasound follow-up. Radiologist adherence to white paper guidelines and subsequent referrer adherence to radiologist recommendations showed room for improvement.

This study proposes a method for the chamber disinfection of paper with biocide in the form of fine, volatile droplets using antifungal Rocima GT. This method provides a fungicidal effect, and within a short exposure time, a fungistatic one. At a concentration of 5% Rocima GT solution, the minimum treatment time to ensure the complete disinfection of paper was 15 min. The proposed method of disinfection by a chemical mist was less harmful to paper than disinfection using a swab saturated in a biocide solution. It was noted that when using Rocima GT at insufficient concentrations to inhibit fungal growth completely, Rocima GT can induce, as well as suppress, organic acid produced by Aspergillus niger depending on the concentration.

Day by day world population is growing rapidly and a huge amount of people shifting to large cities and new places for work, education or job purpose, or a better life. That is why the housing demand is increasing and house renting becoming an elemental part of our society. As a result, I realized the importance of an online house renting website and come up with a decision to implement a such web application. In this paper rental website development is discussed. Through this website, tenants can rent properties and landlords can upload their property details for rent. This website will help users to give or take rent houses without dealing with flat brokers to finally reach an agreement that suits the interests of all parties. The packaging and shifting services facility will help users to shift valuable things safely to destinations. To implement, and testing of the proposed system, this application interface has been developed using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, PHP, and MySQL database server that allows for making web pages interactive and responsive. This system was developed in such a manner so that it can provide a maximum user-friendly interface, and users can use it more efficiently.

Based on travel notes and reviews from the others opinions, this paper have made a word segmentation which describes the use of MERN technology in the project. This project also includes the scripting languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript. With the help of HTML, we are building a website. Here, we are using Nav bar, tables and many more thing to look the website attractive. and with the help of CSS, It makes website cool and user-friendly. In CSS, we are using flex-box, grid and Bootstrap. And With the help of JavaScript, It will be show some alert message and more.

With time there is an advancement in technology, one technology that advances from generation to generation is mobile networks. There has been a huge evolution in mobile networks in the last few decades. As the data increases there is a need for a faster and higher bandwidth network to access that data. Fast mobile networks include low latency, more secure, and high-rate data transfer. In the last few decades, there has been a vast improvement. The network started from 1G followed by 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and it is still going. In this review paper, an attempt has been made to show the difference and advancement between generations by considering various aspects like speed, access time, data transfer time, data rates, and we are also highlighting the challenges and necessities.

Weather forecasting is the use of science and technology to predict the condition of the weather for a given area. It is one of the most difficult issues the world over. This project aims to estimate the weather by utilizing predictive analysis. For this reason, analysis of various data mining procedures is needed before apply. This paper introduces a classifier approach for prediction of weather condition and shows how Naive Bayes and Chi square algorithm can be utilized for classification purpose. This system is a web application with effective graphical User Interface. User will login to the system utilizing his user ID and password. User will enter some information such as current outlook, temperature, humidity and wind condition. This system will take this parameter and predict weather after analyzing the input information with the information in database. Consequently, two basic functions to be specific classification (training) and prediction (testing) will be performed. The outcomes demonstrated that these data mining procedures can be sufficient for weather forecasting.

As the use of social media continues to grow, so does the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in social media platforms. This research paper examines the impact of AIML on social media, including both positive and negative effects. Through a review of literature and case studies, we find that AIML has improved customer service, personalized content and advertising, enhanced user experience, but also raised concerns about privacy and bias. Future research should focus on ethical considerations and potential limitations of AIML in social media.

Vulnerability assessment is a critical process in identifying and mitigating potential security risks in various systems. With the increasing complexity and diversity of modern technologies, traditional vulnerability assessment methods may not be sufficient to address emerging threats effectively. In recent years, new approaches have emerged that leverage advanced techniques, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of vulnerability assessment. In this review paper, we explore the latest developments in vulnerability assessment and provide a comprehensive analysis of various new approaches. We discuss the advantages and limitations of these approaches and provide insights into their practical applications.

This paper aims to inquire for the sociodemographic structure of the Venezuelan occupied labour force and its differences in comparison to the national occupied labour force in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. To achieve this purpose, this research relies on data for the year 2021 from the Integrated Great Survey of Households (Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares - GEIH), a monthly socio demographic survey GEIH that captures information related to the main characteristics of the studied population. In this sense, comparisons in terms of educational levels, income, occupational status, family structure, gender and age groups were done in order to determine differences and common patterns. Finally, a hierarchical cluster analysis strategy was proposed to identify possible sociodemographic typologies of the Venezuelan labour force.

The article aims to determine the share of mechanical-biological installation of waste processing (MBP) in the levels of recycling and preparation for the reuse of paper, metals, plastics, and glass (PMPG) achieved by municipalities. Two MBP installations were taken for the analysis - with the highest and the lowest share of municipalities in the Podlaskie Voivodship (Poland), which reached the recycling level required in 2019. In order to determine the share of MBP installations in the level of recycling achieved by communes, the share of the mass of recycled PMPG waste segregated from mixed municipal waste was calculated: in the total mass of generated PMPG waste and in the total mass of recycled PMPG waste from the municipal waste stream. On the basis of the conducted analyses, it should be stated that the MBP installation may have an impact on the achievement by municipalities of the recycling level required by law.

The drainage system is more than a building saving venture, but of life and environment. Inadequacy of drainage system characterised every nook and cranny of major parts in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, though, it is more pronounced in slums, rural and suburban areas, which accommodate the larger populace. Lack/Inadequacy of drainage system has resulted into improper disposal of greywater, as drainage system is designed to convey waste water to safer place for proper disposal are not available. The consequence of this is seen in a stream of household greywater flow out of the house to the main street. The sight of pipe conveying greywater from bathroom and laundry is a common view in most part of Nigeria, especially in a suburban area, where there is a high dense population. Different severe environmental consequences have resulted from this act, which might be a threat to public health. Also, the practice can also act as a precursor to other ailments in the society. Therefore, there is a need to create awareness on the negative impact of indiscrimate discharge of waste water on the environment. Hence, this paper seeks to review the improper greywater discharge on the street and its possible environmental consequences.

Patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome (ACS) present a high risk of recurrence and new adverse cardiovascular events after hospital discharge. Elevated plasma LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels have been shown to be a causal factor for the development of coronary heart disease, and robust clinical evidence has documented that LDL-C levels decrease linearly correlates with a reduction in cardiovascular events. Recent studies have also demonstrated the safety and efficacy of an early and significant reduction in LDL-C levels in patients with ACS. In this position paper, Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists proposes a decision algorithm on early adoption of lipid-lowering strategies at hospital discharge and short-term follow-up of patients with ACS, in the light of the multiple evidence generated in recent years on the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia and the available therapeutic options, considering current reimbursement criteria.

We consider a principal who periodically offers a fixed and costly nonmonetary reward to agents to incentivize them to invest effort over the long run. An agent’s output, as a function of his effort, is a priori uncertain and is worth a fixed per-unit value to the principal. The principal’s goal is to design an attractive reward policy that specifies how the rewards are to be given to an agent over time based on that agent’s past performance. This problem, which we denote by [Formula: see text], is motivated by practical examples from both academia (e.g., a reduced teaching load) and industry (e.g., “Supplier of the Year” awards). The following “limited-term” (LT) reward policy structure has been quite popular in practice. The principal evaluates each agent periodically; if an agent’s performance over a certain (limited) number of periods in the immediate past exceeds a predefined threshold, then the principal rewards him for a certain (limited) number of periods in the immediate future. When agents’ outputs are deterministic in their efforts, we show that there always exists an optimal policy that is an LT policy and also, obtain such a policy. When agents’ outputs are stochastic, we show that the class of LT policies may not contain any optimal policy of problem [Formula: see text] but is guaranteed to contain policies that are arbitrarily near optimal. Given any [Formula: see text], we show how to obtain an LT policy whose performance is within ϵ of that of an optimal policy. This guarantee depends crucially on the use of sufficiently long histories of the agents’ outputs. We also analyze LT policies with short histories and derive structural insights on the role played by (i) the length of the available history and (ii) the variability in the random variable governing an agent’s output. We show that the average performance of these policies is within 5% of the optimum, justifying their popularity in practice. We then introduce and analyze the class of “score-based” reward policies; we show that this class is guaranteed to contain an optimal policy and also, obtain such a policy. Finally, we analyze a generalization in which the principal has a limited number for rewards in any given period and show that the class of score-based policies, with modifications to accommodate the limited availability of the rewards, continues to contain an optimal solution for the principal. This paper was accepted by Jeannette Song, operations management. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4482 .

Extended risk stratification and optimal management of patients with a permanently increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) are becoming increasingly important. There are several clinical conditions where the risk of arrhythmic death is present albeit only transient. As an example, patients with depressed left ventricular function have a high risk of SCD that may be only transient if there will be a significant recovery of function. It is important to protect the patients while receiving and titrating to the optimal dose the recommended drugs that may lead to an improved left ventricular function. In several other conditions, a transient risk of SCD can be observed even if the left ventricular function is not compromised. Examples are patients with acute myocarditis, during the diagnostic work-up of some arrhythmic conditions or after extraction of infected catheters while eradicating the associated infection. In all these conditions, it is important to offer a protection to these patients. The wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) is of particular importance as a temporary non-invasive technology for both arrhythmia monitoring and therapy in patients with increased risk of SCD. Previous studies have shown the WCD to be an effective and safe therapy for the prevention of SCD caused by ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation. The aim of this ANMCO position paper is to provide a recommendation for clinical utilization of the WCD in Italy, based upon current data and international guidelines. In this document, we will review the WCD functionality, indications, clinical evidence, and guideline recommendations. Finally, a recommendation for the utilization of the WCD in routine clinical practice will be presented, in order to provide physicians with a practical guidance for SCD risk stratification in patients who may benefit from this device.

In the growing therapeutic armamentarium for heart failure (HF) management, vericiguat represents an innovative therapeutic option. The biological target of this drug is different from that of other drugs for HF. Indeed, vericiguat does not inhibit neuro-hormonal systems overactivated in HF or sodium–glucose co-transporter 2 but stimulates the biological pathway of nitric oxide and cyclic guanosine monophosphate, which is impaired in patients with HF. Vericiguat has recently been approved by international and national regulatory authorities for the treatment of patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction who are symptomatic despite optimal medical therapy and have worsening HF. This ANMCO position paper summarises key aspects of vericiguat mechanism of action and provides a review of available clinical evidence. Furthermore, this document reports use indications based on international guideline recommendations and local regulatory authority approval at the time of writing.

In this work, the issue of applying water or a homogeneous aqueous suspension with a uniform size of (nano)particles (e.g., ink) to the surface of SBSK (southern bleached softwood kraft) paper with randomly arranged local hydrophobic treatment is investigated and then simulated. Based on the two investigated models, various simulation approaches were compared, an own simulation model was created, and its validity was subsequently demonstrated on the experiments performed.

In recent years, many projects have been developed to reduce the energy consumption of buildings, both from the point of view of energy efficiency and the integration of renewable energies. However, few projects are related to the problem of integrating DER in environments dominated by high-tech equipment, the so-called ”critical loads”: data centers, railroad stations, airports, and hospitals. The European Interreg Sudoe IMPROVEMENT project aim is to renovate existing public buildings where critical loads predominate, converting them into nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB), and for this purpose, it integrates combined cooling, heat, and power (CCHP) microgrid with renewable and other distributed energy resources (DER) like hybrid energy storage systems (ESS). With still one year to go before the end of the project, the consortium partners present in this position paper the latest progress of their respective work packages to date. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This column is intended to address the kinds of knotty problems and dilemmas with which many scholars grapple in studying health professions education. In this article, the authors address the question of why papers may be desk rejected (rejected without going out for formal peer review) and describe simple steps for authors to optimize their work so it gets past the desk reject stage. Submitted/Accepted version

The mineralogy of fine soils such as clays has always posed problems and remains an uncontrollable phenomenon in the presence of water and causes destructible damage throughout the world. In order to minimize the cost of implementation, it is necessary to find practical and less expensive solutions to ensure the stabilization of these soils by the valorisation of local waste available in nature. This article concerns an experimental study on the treatment of reconstituted soil by the addition of paper ash of different proportions on a set of standardized tests, the preliminary results show that the paper ash to the clay soil improves its swelling potential, its plasticity, its compaction characteristics, and its shear strength parameters.

This study sought to decode the communicative intent of the analyzed rhetoric moves and metadiscourse markers of basic and action research funded under the Department of Education’s Basic Education Research Fund (BERF). Genre Analysis was used to analyze the corpora of the 30 BERF papers completed from 2016-2022. With the aid of coding sheets, the following structures were used: a combination of Hardjanto’s (1997; 2017) and Kosasih’s (2018) Abstract; Swales and Feak’s (2012) Introduction, Mc Combes’ (2019; 2021) Research Questions; Kwan’s (2006) Literature Review; DepEd’s Innovation, Intervention, and Strategy; a combination of Lim (2006), Peacock (2011), Kanoksilapatham (2012) and Huang’s (2014) Methodology; Swales and Feak’s (2012) Results and Discussion, and Yang & Allison’s (2003) Conclusion and Recommendation moves and steps framework. Using the Krippendorff alpha coefficient, the inter-rater reliability of the coders was set at almost perfect agreement (0. 838 or 84%). Generally, 26 obligatory, 31 optional, and 25 non-obligatory moves and steps were identified per the research section. Metadiscourse markers were determined utilizing AntConc 4.0.10 and were ranked as follows: (1) Evidentials, (2) Transition, (2) Self-mentions, (4) Code glosses, (5) Frame Markers, (6) Attitude Markers, (7) Hedges, (8) Engagement Markers, (9) Boosters, and (10) Endophoric Markers. Integrating the rhetoric moves, steps, and markers, the researcher came up with the six communicative intents (Inform, Outline, Convince, Explain, Present, Integrate) in writing research. A structure for writing BERF research proposal and completed papers were crafted in response to the findings. This study shall promote the culture of research, contribute to the growing literature, address gaps, and open opportunities for follow-up studies. &nbsp

A simple, equipment-free, direct fluorometric method, employing paper-based analytical devices (PADs) as sensors, for the selective determination of quinine (QN) is described herein. The suggested analytical method exploits the fluorescence emission of QN without any chemical reaction after the appropriate pH adjustment with nitric acid, at room temperature, on the surface of a paper device with the application of a UV lamp at 365 nm. The devices crafted had a low cost and were manufactured with chromatographic paper and wax barriers, and the analytical protocol followed was extremely easy for the analyst and required no laboratory instrumentation. According to the methodology, the user must place the sample on the detection area of the paper and read with a smartphone the fluorescence emitted by the QN molecules. Many chemical parameters were optimized, and a study of interfering ions present in soft drink samples was carried out. Additionally, the chemical stability of these paper devices was considered in various maintenance conditions with good results. The detection limit calculated as 3.3 S/N was 3.6 mg L−1, and the precision of the method was satisfactory, being from 3.1% (intra-day) to 8.8% (inter-day). Soft drink samples were successfully analyzed and compared with a fluorescence method.

The present study reports on the development by thermoforming of highly sustainable trays based on a bilayer structure composed of paper substrate and a film made of a blend of partially bio-based poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA). The incorporation of the renewable succinic acid derived biopolyester blend film slightly improved the thermal resistance and tensile strength of paper, whereas its flexural ductility and puncture resistance were notably enhanced. Furthermore, in terms of barrier properties, the incorporation of this biopolymer blend film reduced the water and aroma vapor permeances of paper by two orders of magnitude, while it endowed the paper structure with intermediate oxygen barrier properties. The resultant thermoformed bilayer trays were, thereafter, originally applied to preserve non-thermally treated Italian artisanal fresh pasta, “fusilli calabresi” type, which was stored under refrigeration conditions for 3 weeks. Shelf-life evaluation showed that the application of the PBS–PBSA film on the paper substrate delayed color changes and mold growth for 1 week, as well as reduced drying of fresh pasta, resulting in acceptable physicochemical quality parameters within 9 days of storage. Lastly, overall migration studies performed with two food simulants demonstrated that the newly developed paper/PBS–PBSA trays are safe since these successfully comply with current legislation on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.

The prevalence of diabetes has increased over the past years. Therefore, developing minimally invasive, user-friendly and cost-effective glucose biosensors is necessary especially in low-income and developing countries. Cellulose paper-based analytical devices have attracted the attention of many researchers due to affordability, not requiring trained personnel, and complex equipment. This paper describes a microfluidic paper-based analytical device for the detection of glucose in tear with the naked eye. The paper-based biosensor fabricated by laser CO2, and GOx/HRP enzymatic solution coupled with TMB was utilized as reagents. A sample volume of 10 µl was needed for the biosensor operation and the results were observable within 5 minutes. To evaluate the device performance, color intensity-based and distance-based results were analyzed by ImageJ and Tracker. Distance-based results showed a linear behavior in the range of 0.1–0.6 mM with an R2 = 0.967 and LOD of 0.2 mM. The results could be perceived by the naked eye without any need to further equipment or trained personnel in a relatively short time (3–5 minutes). Moreover, glucose concentration could be obtained non-invasively by tears collected by this µPAD.

Is it really better to print everything, including software models, or is it better to view them on screen? With the ever increasing complexity of software systems, software modeling is integral to software development. Software models facilitate and automate many activities during development, such as code and test case generation. However, a core goal of software modeling is to communicate and collaborate. Software models are presented to team members on many mediums and two of the most common mediums are paper and computer screens. Reading from paper or screen is ostensibly considered to have the same effect on model comprehension. However, the literature on text reading has indicated that the reading experiences can be very different which in turn effects various metrics related to reader performance. This paper reports on an experiment that was conducted to investigate the effect of reading software models on paper in comparison with reading them on a computer screen with respect to cognitive effectiveness. Cognitive effectiveness here refers to the ease by which a model reader can read a model. The experiment used a total of 74 software engineering students as subjects. The experiment results provide strong evidence that displaying diagrams on a screen allows subjects to read them quicker. There is also evidence that indicates that on screen viewing induces fewer reading errors.

Origami architecture (OA) is a fascinating papercraft that involves only a piece of paper with cuts and folds. Interesting geometric structures ‘pop up’ when the paper is opened. However, manually designing such a physically valid 2D paper pop-up plan is challenging since fold lines must jointly satisfy hard spatial constraints. Existing works on automatic OA-style paper pop-up design all focused on how to generate a pop-up structure that approximates a given target 3D model. This paper presents the first OA-style paper pop-up design framework that takes 2D images instead of 3D models as input. Our work is inspired by the fact that artists often use 2D profiles to guide the design process, thus benefited from the high availability of 2D image resources. Due to the lack of 3D geometry information, we perform novel theoretic analysis to ensure the foldability and stability of the resultant design. Based on a novel graph representation of the paper pop-up plan, we further propose a practical optimization algorithm via mixed-integer programming that jointly optimizes the topology and geometry of the 2D plan. We also allow the user to interactively explore the design space by specifying constraints on fold lines. Finally, we evaluate our framework on various images with interesting 2D shapes. Experiments and comparisons exhibit both the efficacy and efficiency of our framework.

Funding Information: Open access funding provided by FCT|FCCN (b-on). This work was financed by national funds from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), I.P., in the scope of the projects LA/P/0037/2020, UIDP/50025/2020, and UIDB/50025/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication–i3N and by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Program and National Funds through Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under projects POCI-01–0145-FEDER-007688, UID/CTM/50025 and by ERC AdG grant from the project DIGISMART (ERC-AdG-2017, GA 787410). J.C. would like to acknowledge FCT/MCTES for his present research contract with reference CEECIND/00880/2018. R.C. acknowledges funding from i3N-FCT I.P. through the PhD Grant UI/BD/151295/2021. S. S. and T. P. also acknowledge the funding from National Foundation for Science and Technology, through the PhD Grants SFRH/BD/149751/2019 and 2020.08606.BD, respectively. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s). Laser-induced graphene (LIG) is as a promising material for flexible microsupercapacitors (MSCs) due to its simple and cost-effective processing. However, LIG-MSC research and production has been centered on non-sustainable polymeric substrates, such as polyimide. In this work, it is presented a cost-effective, reproducible, and robust approach for the preparation of LIG structures via a one-step laser direct writing on chromatography paper. The developed strategy relies on soaking the paper in a 0.1 M sodium tetraborate solution (borax) prior to the laser processing. Borax acts as a fire-retardant agent, thus allowing the laser processing of sensitive substrates that other way would be easily destroyed under the high-energy beam. LIG on paper exhibiting low sheet resistance (30 Ω sq−1) and improved electrode/electrolyte interface was obtained by the proposed method. When used as microsupercapacitor electrodes, this laser-induced graphene resulted in specific capacitances of 4.6 mF cm−2 (0.015 mA cm−2). Furthermore, the devices exhibit excellent cycling stability (> 10,000 cycles at 0.5 mA cm−2) and good mechanical properties. By connecting the devices in series and parallel, it was also possible to control the voltage and energy delivered by the system. Thus, paper-based LIG-MSC can be used as energy storage devices for flexible, low-cost, and portable electronics. Additionally, due to their flexible design and architecture, they can be easily adapted to other circuits and applications with different power requirements. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] publishersversion published

In this study, using the multi-criteria decision-making mechanism PROMETHEE method, a decision-making mechanism is created for the most suitable paper selection according to some optical and physical properties of the papers. Within the scope of the study, 80 g/m2 high grade papers obtained from 5 different companies are used. The optical and physical properties of these papers are measured in the laboratory environment and the most suitable paper is selected by using the multi-criteria decision-making method. By using this method, the situations where the decision makers are undecided in the selection of paper became meaningful. By using this method, the most suitable paper can be selected in cases where there is uncertainty in both the paper and printing sector, and this method can be used by all companies that appeal to this sector. This study, which may attract the attention of many companies for the paper industry, has the potential to shed light on the studies in the field of decision making.

The pulp and Paper industries are growing at a tremendous rate. To satisfy the raw material supply and sustainability of their future industries need an alternative resource from fast-growing tree species. Poplar is one of the world’s fastest-growing lightwood trees with its used in several industries. The present work relies on the comparative fiber morphological dimensions of four species of poplar i.e. Populus alba L, Populus ciliata Wall. ex Royle, Populus euphratica Oliv, and Populus nigra L. The quality of pulp and paper was directly related to the fiber dimensions i.e., fiber length, fiber lumen diameter, and fiber wall thickness. A number of wood properties related to paper quality were also derived from the fiber dimensions including the Runkel ratio, flexibility coefficient, solid factors, luce’s-shape factors, slenderness ratio and wall coverage ratio. The mean value of fiber length, fiber diameter, fiber wall thickness and basic density of these four species ranged from 919-1425 μm, 19.71-25.85 μm, 2.72-4.99 μm and 0.38-0.54 g cm⁻¹ respectively. The prominent objective was to compare the fiber quality of these four poplar species within among self and also with an exotic poplar species Populus deltoides and other fast-growing tree species.

The applications of waste-derived fuel from paper mills in industrial boilers benefit the reduction of carbon emissions. However, the co-combustion of waste-derived fuel and coal causes significant changes in the characteristics of the ash and brings about the need to find possible means of the utilization of the ash produced. In this work fly, ash samples were collected from circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers co-combusting paper mill wastes with coal and analyzed in detail. The chemical, physical, and thermal characteristics of two different co-combustion fly ashes (CCFA) were investigated using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The chemical composition of CCFA is largely affected by the fuel source type. Thermal analyses of CCFA show that the type of desulfurization system used by the boiler influences the form of sulfate present in the fly ash. The presence of calcium sulfite hemihydrate can cause a high loss in the ignition of CCFA. By comparing the physical requirements specified in the ASTM standard for coal fly ash to be used in concrete, the CCFA produced from paper mill wastes was found to show good potential as supplementary cementitious materials.

White papers submitted to the National Academies'Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033. These were uploaded to Amazon Web Services, but are hard to access directly. Users may do so by clicking the links in the final column of the spreadsheet (also included in the upload):20220908082838-SurveyExport.csv Authorship information is given in each paper and in the spreadsheet. Any citations of thesewhite papers should refer to those authors.&nbsp

Compared to papers derived from virgin fibres, recycled papers possess somewhat limited optical, strength and printing properties. Strength properties are usually increased by blending recycled fibres with virgin fibres in pulp for paper production, while optical and printing properties are often improved by coating after the paper is being manufactured. In this study, the usability of virgin fibres derived from straw as the agricultural residue of wheat, barley and triticale crops for paper production was evaluated based on the stability of prints on laboratory-made paper. For that purpose, in laboratory conditions, the papers with the addition of straw pulp in the pulp of recycled fibres were formed and prior to printing they were coated with TiO2-based coating. Process inks, in full-tone, were applied on coated straw-containing papers by digital printing process. Optical properties of digital prints upon accelerated ageing were evaluated based on Euclidean colour difference calculated from spectrophotometric values measured on black and magenta prints before and after 48 h and 96 h of ageing. The obtained results were compared with those provided by printing substrates made only from recycled fibres with and without TiO2-based coating. It was observed that TiO2-based coating has no influence on the stability of black digital prints, while each layer of TiO2-based coating reduces deviations in magenta colour upon ageing.

The membraneless-gas separation microfluidic paper-based analytical device (ML-GS μPAD), consisting of donor, spacer, and acceptor layers, was developed to monitor total ammonia in fish pond water. The principle of the analysis involved the addition of sodium hydroxide solution to the sample zone in the donor layer containing ammonia/ammonium, and the produced ammonia gas diffuses through the spacer to the detection zone in the acceptor layer containing red rose extract to produce a color change from pink to blue corresponding to the ammonia/ammonium concentration. Under optimum conditions, the proposed method provided good linearity of ammonia in the range concentration of 0-100 mg L

Amending croplands with forest residues may help in restoring soil properties in fields subject to intensive land management. Despite their known benefits when applied separately, co-application of wood biochar with paper mill biosolids (PB) has seen little investigation under field conditions. A study was initiated in Québec, QC, Canada, to determine the effect of a single application of wood biochar with and without PB on the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability of two pH-neutral to alkaline loamy soils. Biochar at 0, 10, and 20 Mg dry weight·ha−1 and PB at 30 Mg wet weight·ha−1 were applied before planting of corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in 2018. Residual effect of this co-application was determined under soybean and corn in the subsequent year. In both years, corn received supplemental N and P from mineral fertilizers according to local agronomic recommendations. Co-applying biochar and PB reduced soil NO3-N availability in the year of application and decreased corn yield by 1.0 Mg·ha−1 compared with biochar or PB applied alone, but these amendments did not affect soybean yields. In the following year, the previous biochar addition increased soybean yield by 0.6 Mg·ha−1 but had little effect on corn. For both years, biochar addition induced a large increase in soil Mehlich-3 P. This study revealed that wood biochar positively impacted P status of these soils but was not a source of N to crops even when co-applied with PB.

Acidification and metal mobility may present challenges in soil receiving paper mill biosolids (PB). Co-applying biochar and PB could help prevent these issues, but its effect must be assessed. The objective of this 224 d incubation study was to evaluate the effect of amending two acidic soils, a clay and sandy loam, with two PB types varying in pH (PB1, pH = 7.80; and PB2, pH = 4.51) co-applied with three rates (0%, 2.5%, and 5% w/w) of pine (Pinus strobus L.) biochar on soil pH and macro- (P, K, Ca, and Mg) and micronutrients (Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn). In both soils, co-applying biochar and PB significantly increased soil pH and extractable K concentration compared with PB-only application, whereas amending with PB significantly increased soil extractable P concentration compared with the unamended soil. In comparison with PB only, co-applying 5% biochar and PB decreased extractable Cu concentration in both soils and extractable Fe concentration in the sandy loam soil. This study showed that co-applying biochar and PB can be more beneficial to agricultural soils than application of PB alone by supplying nutrients and helping prevent metal toxicity by raising pH, especially in acidic sandy soils.

The Nordic, particularly Swedish and Finnish, pulp and paper (P&P) companies are represented in earlier research as using specialized maritime transport systems – based on roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessels – in long-term collaborations with shipping companies after the Second World War. However, the strategic choices of the P&P companies that led to this development have not been researched. Based on studies of the Swedish P&P companies that developed specialized maritime transport systems during the period 1960–2015, this article sheds light on the reasons for these maritime transport systems. As well as the growth of exports, the expansion of P&P companies through mergers and acquisitions and the increased value of the exported goods, the study shows that the Swedish ro-ro trend, diversified and sensitive products, pressure from customers for frequent and speedy deliveries, and a fairly short distance to stable main markets, were additional factors.

Alstonia boonei, an abundant lesser utilized species within the West African Subregion, was evaluated as an alternative raw material for pulp and paper production. The basic density (BD), fibre characteristics [fibre length (FL), fibre diameter (FD), lumen diameter (LD) and wall thickness (WT)], derived anatomical indices [Flexibility Ratio (FR), Slenderness Ratio (SR), Rigidity Coefficient (RC), Luce’s Shape Factor (LSF), Solids Factor (SF) and Runkel Ratio (RR)] and chemical composition (lignin, holocellulose, 1% NaOH solubility and ash contents) of A. boonei were studied to evaluate variation along the trunk (base, middle and top portions) and ascertain its suitability for pulp and paper production. Significant variations were observed in the density and fibre characteristics along the trunk of the tree. Although the FD was large, the observed adequate FL, thin-wall and large LD implied easy beating of fibres and manufacture of dense, smooth and strong papers. The favourable SF, RR, FR, RC, and LSF values obtained for the fibres would produce papers with suitable burst and tearing strengths and folding endurance. Chemically the lower lignin (< 30%), ash and 1% NaOH solubility and the high holocellulose contents of A. boonei, will generate a higher pulp yield. A. boonei although a low-density species, will be desirable for pulp and paper production.

In this paper, we present a novel and cost-effective lab-on-paper microfluidics platform for performing ELISA autonomously, with no user intervention beyond adding the sample. The platform utilizes two Bi-Material Cantilever Valves placed in a specially designed housing. The integration of these valves in a specific channel network forms a complete fluidic logic circuit for performing ELISA on paper. The housing also incorporates an innovative reagent storage and release mechanism that minimizes variability in the volume of reagents released into the reagent pads. The platform design was optimized to minimize variance in the time of fluid wicking from the reagent pad, using a randomized design of experiment. The platform adheres to the World Health Organization’s ASSURED principles. The optimized design was used to conduct an ELISA for detecting rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) in a buffer, with a limit of detection of 2.27 ng/mL and a limit of quantification of 8.33 ng/mL. This represents a 58% improvement over previous ELISA methods for detecting rabbit IgG in buffer using portable microfluidic technology.

A mobile application called "Health Care Application" is designed to make it easier for people to get medical help by giving them quick, accurate responses. Users of the health care application include doctors, patients, and vendors of medications, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies. The 'Health Care Application' concept will provide users access to all the amenities whenever and wherever they choose, given the significant increase in the use of smartphones. In today's current, technologically advanced world, it is crucial to find a quick, digital solution to any issue, therefore any emergency needs must be met in an approachable manner. This programme has a symptom analyzer that analyses the symptoms entered by the patient and suggests medications or medical professionals based on those symptoms.Given howdifficult it is to remember everything in the modern world, the medication reminder helps users remember their medication dosages without forgetting any. Multiple types of accounts help to maintain data security by limiting user access to only that data for which they are authorised, so data integrity is highly valued. Additionally, this application has a chat room where users can consult doctors, avoid waiting in line at the clinic, pay with their wallets, and, if they choose, take advantage of health insurance services. The patient's health status can be live-monitored by the doctor, who can also review past medical records.

In today's financial world, a stock market is quite important. The stock market's worth is an important part of today's global economic system. The stock market attracts a large number of people from all areas of life, whether corporate or academic. Because of the non-linear structure of the stock market, research is one of the world's hottest and most important topics. People invest in the stock market based on previous theory outcomes or assumptions. When it comes to forecasting, people typically look for ways or procedures to help them reduce risk and improve performance. As a result, in today's competitive stock market, stock value forecast is crucial. Critical and technical studies' approach cannot guarantee the consistency and accuracy of estimations. As a result, machine learning technology has risen in popularity in stock forecasting over the last 5-6 years, with estimates based on current stock values that have been educated in terms of prior values. This research focuses on using LSTM (Long Short Time Memory) technology to forecast future market trends.

In today’s modern world people all around the globe are becoming more interested in their health and lifestyle. But just avoiding junk food and doing an exercise is not enough, we require a balanced diet. A balanced diet based on our height, weight and age can lead a healthy life. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease and cancer), and promote your overall health. A balanced diet is one that gives your body the nutrients it needs to function correctly.’ Our aim is to make a system that helps users to make personalized diet plan and recall them for their meal time to time and help them to create a balance in overall calorie intake throughout the day. The system would remind the user on a daily basis to have their meal and with many options to choose from for a personalize meal plan for a day. Also, the user will be able to choose any type of healthy food they want as per their convenience out of the options that will be there to them by the system. Our body use calories for basically everything like breathing, walking, running etc. On average a person needs 2000 calories per day but specifically intake of calories depends upon persons physical aspects like weight, height, age and gender. So, your food choices each day affect your health — how you feel today, tomorrow, and in the future. Thus, a proposed system gives required calories for a diet plan based on your physical aspects and your end goal.

Traffic flow prediction is an essential tool for traffic management, which can assist traffic operators in making informed decisions for traffic control and management. Accurate traffic flow prediction can also help commuters to plan their journeys efficiently and reduce travel time. The use of Support Vector Regression algorithm for traffic flow prediction has shown promising results in various studies, and it can be used to predict traffic flow at different time intervals, such as hourly, daily, weekly, or even yearly. Additionally, the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques can further enhance the accuracy of traffic flow prediction, which can lead to more effective traffic management strategies

The human brain is the most important and complex part of our body. It controls our muscles and gives us the ability to think, create ideas, and act. The neurons present in the brain store the information of events that happened with us. We, humans, are said to be “intelligent” because of our brains. But when our body decays with time we tend to lose our memory and intelligence, so here comes the concept of the Blue Brain. It is a Virtual Brain that uses a supercomputer called “Blue Gene”. It basically functions as a Human Brain. Its main function is to create a connection between the human brain and the artificial Brain. As the Life span of human beings is limited this invention is done to understand human feelings, knowledge, ideas, memories, dreams of a person, and that could be downloaded/extracted and can be used for different purposes. Neurological diseases can be cured by this technology.

This project seeks to create a simplified version of a smart wearable belt that can assist blind people with navigation, using a sensible and compact design for the electronic equipment. The design includes an embedded system, and could potentially incorporate machine learning algorithms to detect potholes and other irregularities on the road. The goal is to develop a smart belt that can help blind people travel independently without the use of a cane. The Electronic Blind Mobility Aid is a technology that uses sensors put on a belt worn around the waist to allow blind persons to travel independently. This advanced technology can help many people with visual impairments to travel independently. Blind people often face obstacles that can make it difficult for them to travel alone, but a blind belt can extend their range of perception by serving as an obstacle detector. Visually impaired people often use their hearing to compensate for their reduced eyesight, and can recognize sound sources. This technology enables blind persons to travel independently and receive obstacle alerts via headphones and speakers using sensors installed on a belt that is worn around the waist. Blind people can utilise this approach every day to find potential hazards, roadblocks, and pathways. In the end, this technology will serve to increase the independence of blind individuals and give them more confidence when they travel. To notify users of potential dangers, the device has a buzzer that produces vibration signals and emits a warning sound. Both the sound frequency and the vibration frequency rise as the space between the elastic gloves and the barriers gets smaller. The design incorporates a buzzer and motor in addition to the capability to notify the proper person in case of an emergency.. The goal of this study is to provide a low-cost, effective means of helping blind individuals travel more easily, quickly, and confidently. This design provides a quick-response, cost-effective, and portable solution. This device can let blind persons traverse their environment more safely and confidently by employing sound and vibration cues to notify the user of impediments.

The principle objective of this project is to analyse and design a multi-storied building {G + 2(3-dimensional frame)} using STAAD Pro. The design involves load calculations manually and analysing the whole structure by STAAD Pro. The design methods used in STAAD-Pro analysis are Limit State Design conforming to Indian Standard Code of Practice. STAAD. Pro features a state-ofthe-art user interface, visualization tools, powerful analysis and design engines with advanced finite element and dynamic analysis capabilities. From model generation, analysis and design to visualization and result verification, STAAD. Pro is the professional’s choice. Initially we started with the analysis of simple 2-dimensional frames and manually checked the accuracy of the software with our results.