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Nowadays, we are heading towards global decarbonisation, with each sector involved contributing partial solutions to the problem, without realising that an overall vision is necessary. Photovoltaics emerged as a technology that requires a lot of surface area, which is why it has been integrated into buildings and other human infrastructures (BPVI). The effects of the implementation of AVS on an island have been analysed, observing the territory's energy use, population, and social and topographical realities, collecting all the peculiarities that could be affected by a massive implementation of this technology. The method to be followed is a SWOT and TOWS analysis, widely employed in all types of scientific studies. The increase in the island's resilience has been assessed, as has its decreasing its dependence on the outside. In this case, it has been observed that conventional PV is currently being installed on agricultural land to decarbonise electricity production, which mostly relies on oil and does not consider that the island is a territory with a high food dependence on the outside; a high unemployment rate; a high factor of soil desertification, meaning fires are frequent; a high rate of abandonment of agricultural land; and a shortage of flat land. Therefore, we affirm that the island's carbon footprint will increase by not taking all these factors into account. In addition to punishing the local economy by destroying fertile soil, local food and jobs, the current method of energy production increases the need for subsidies to import food products from abroad. In addition, we claim that the use of AVS reduces the water needs of the crop, which is relevant on an island with great water scarcity. It is concluded that 11 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals would be improved with the use of agrovoltaic technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this research is to conduct an experimental investigation of the bimetallic material formed by 316LSI stainless steel and S275JR structural steel, produced via hybrid wire arc additive manufacturing technology with cool metal transfer welding and machining, and with the objective of being able to reduce the industrial cost of certain requirements for one of the materials. A methodological investigation has been carried out starting with welding beads of 316LSI on S275JR plates, followed by overlapping five beads and conducting final experiments with several vertical layers, with or without intermediate face milling. The results achieved optimal bead conditions for wire speeds of 4 m/min and 5 m/min at a travel speed of 400 mm/min. Overlap experiments show that the best deposition results are obtained with an overlap equal to or greater than 28%. Cooling time does not significantly influence the final geometry of the coatings. Regarding metallographic analysis, the filler material presents an austenitic columnar structure. In the base material, a bainitic structure with inferred grain refinement was detected in the heat-affected zone. An increase in hardness is observed in the heat-affected zone. In the results obtained from the tensile tests of the bimetallic material, an increase in mechanical strength and yield strength is observed in the tested specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to optimize and compare the annual costs of energy services in buildings with critical loads and analyze case studies for hospitals and higher education institutions in the United States. Besides electricity and natural gas costs, the study considers all the infrastructure costs of capital amortization and maintenance. In addition, it studies energy resilience improvement due to distributed generation, including solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, internal combustion engine, and fuel cell sources. The optimization considers the electrical consumption, the heating and cooling demands, and the operational strategy of the energy storage systems. To simulate real scenarios, energy tariffs were modeled and considered, and final optimization results were produced. Some of the microgrid load was considered critical to model resilience benefits. The results show that if favorable energy tariffs are applied, the benefits of increasing energy resilience represent a novel market with high potential in facilities with significant critical loads. This methodology can be used in similar scenarios, adapting each particular load profile and critical load to provide a combined optimal solution regarding resilience and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the economic viability of an emerging technology for potential upscaling and commercialization in a specific location: the village of New Stuyahok, Alaska. The proposed technology is hydrothermal liquefaction, which utilizes kelp macroalgae and fishing waste as feedstock. These materials were chosen due to their easy availability in the village and their alignment with the local economy. The economic evaluation is based on the net present value (NPV) and sensitivity models. Different feedstock ratios (on a dry basis), such as 100:0, 50:50, and 30:70 of kelp and fishing waste, respectively, were evaluated to determine the optimal combination. The results indicated that the process is economically viable only when a high proportion of fishing waste is used. This can be ascribed to the constrained output yield of the kelp biomass and the relatively negligible influence exerted by alginate production on the NPV. However, the ratio 50:50 appears to be economically promising if the costs can be reduced by at least 13.5% or the benefits can be increased by 12.1%. Nevertheless, government support could play a crucial role in expediting the implementation of this technology once it becomes market-ready. This means being practical, scalable, and economically viable, enabling reduced investments or increased benefits that signify its readiness. Utilizing such a tool offers valuable insights into the framework of the proposed technology and the use of local natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main objectives of new operating regimes, such as transactional power systems, is to make the power grid more resilient to catastrophes and disturbances, while at the same time making it possible to supply electricity to the largest number of customers. Although this is true, it is well known among power system operators that not all customers are the same. The consequence of this is that any discussion around the impact of transactional power systems on power system resilience should consider the needs of its critical users (such as control centers, fire stations, and hospitals) over other users. In assessing power system resilience, a metric is needed that gives "bonus points" to those systems that, under all circumstances, can continue to provide electricity to their critical users. In order to serve as a parameter in the assessment of power grid resilience, the research presented here discusses the proportion of critical loads existing in critical infrastructures. Once the critical loads are characterized, the next step is the inclusion of these loads in resilience metrics. This paper proposes resiliency metrics in which certain customers (those categorized as critical) are assigned a higher weight than others. One thing to keep in mind is the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for all power systems, and that the assignment of such weights to customers can vary significantly from one operator to another based on their unique systems and the current and expected states of their critical customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signature-based Intrusion Detection Systems (SIDS) play a crucial role within the arsenal of security components of most organizations. They can find traces of known attacks in the network traffic or host events for which patterns or signatures have been pre-established. SIDS include standard packages of detection rulesets, but only those rules suited to the operational environment should be activated for optimal performance. However, some organizations might skip this tuning process and instead activate default off-the-shelf rulesets without understanding its implications and trade-offs. In this work, we help gain insight into the consequences of using predefined rulesets in the performance of SIDS. We experimentally explore the performance of three SIDS in the context of web attacks. In particular, we gauge the detection rate obtained with predefined subsets of rules for Snort, ModSecurity and Nemesida using seven attack datasets. We also determine the precision and rate of alert generated by each detector in a real-life case using a large trace from a public webserver. Results show that the maximum detection rate achieved by the SIDS under test is insufficient to protect systems effectively and is lower than expected for known attacks. Our results also indicate that the choice of predefined settings activated on each detector strongly influences its detection capability and false alarm rate. Snort and ModSecurity scored either a very poor detection rate (activating the less-sensitive predefined ruleset) or a very poor precision (activating the full ruleset). We also found that using various SIDS for a cooperative decision can improve the precision or the detection rate, but not both. Consequently, it is necessary to reflect upon the role of these open-source SIDS with default configurations as core elements for protection in the context of web attacks. Finally, we provide an efficient method for systematically determining which rules deactivate from a ruleset to significantly reduce the false alarm rate for a target operational environment. We tested our approach using Snort's ruleset in our real-life trace, increasing the precision from 0.015 to 1 in less than 16 h of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural compounds have shown good potential for the discovery of new chemotherapeutics for the treatment of Chagas' disease. Recently, our group reported the effective trypanocidal activity of (-)-elatol, extracted from the red macroalgae Laurencia dendroidea present in the Brazilian coast against Trypanosoma cruzi. However, the mechanism of action of this compound has remained unclear. There are only hypotheses concerning its action on mitochondrial function. Here, we further investigated the mechanisms of action of (-)-elatol on trypomastigotes of T. cruzi. For this, we evaluated some biochemical alterations in trypomastigotes treated with (-)-elatol. Our results show that (-)-elatol induced depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane, an increase in the formation of mitochondrial superoxide anion and loss of cell membrane and DNA integrity. Additionally, (-)-elatol induced formation of autophagic vacuoles and a decrease in cell volume. All together, these results suggest that the trypanocidal action of (-)-elatol involves multiple events and mitochondria might be the initial target organelle. Our hypothesis is that the mitochondrial dysfunction leads to an increase of ROS production through the electron transport chain, which affects cell membrane and DNA integrity leading to different types of parasite death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significantly improved thermal pyrolysis process for polystyrene (PS) is reported and mathematically modeled, including the description of the time evolution of the full molecular weight distribution of the polymer during its degradation by direct integration of the balance equations without simplifications. The process improves the styrene yield from 28–39%, reached in our previous report, to 58–75% by optimizing the heating ramp during the initial stage of the pyrolysis process. The process was tested at 390 and 420 °C on samples of conventional PS synthesized via free-radical polymerization (FRP) and PS with a nitroxide end-functionality synthesized via nitroxide mediated polymerization (NMP) with three levels of the nitroxide to initiator (N/I) molar ratio: 0.9, 1.1 and 1.3. The NMP-PS produced with N/I = 1.3 generates the highest styrene yield (75.2 ± 6.7%) with respect to the best FRP-PS yield (64.9 ± 1.2%), confirming the trends observed in our previous study. The mathematical model corrects some problems of a previous model that was based on assumptions that led to significant errors in the predictions; this is achieved by solving the full molecular weight distribution (MWD) without assumptions. The model provides further insight into the initial stages of the pyrolysis process which seem to be crucial to determine the chemical paths of the process and the styrene yield, as well as the influences of the initial heating ramp used and the presence of a nitroxide end-functionality in the polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, new treatments are required to supplement the current standard of care for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The phosphatidylinositol3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway is commonly altered and activated in HNSCC. PHT-427 is a dual PI3K-mammalian target of the AKT/PDK1 inhibitor; however, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of the PHT-427 inhibitor on HNSCC has not been investigated. This study aims to evaluate the antitumoral effect of PHT-427-loaded polymeric nanoparticles based on α-tocopheryl succinate (α-TOS). The in vitro activity of PHT-427 was tested in hypopharynx carcinoma squamous cells (FaDu) to measure the cell viability, PI3KCA/AKT/PDK1 gene expression, and PI3KCA/AKT/PDK1 levels. Apoptosis, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also measured. The presence of PHT-427 significantly enhances its antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity by inactivating the PI3K/AKT/PDK1 pathway. Nanoparticles (NPs) effectively suppress AKT/PDK1 expression. Additionally, NPs loaded with PHT-427 produce high oxidative stress levels that induce apoptosis. In conclusion, these results are promising in the use of this nanoformulation as a PHT-427 delivery system for effective HNSCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the analysis of the feasibility to characterise the air leakage and the mechanical ventilation avoiding the intrusiveness of the traditional measurement techniques of the corresponding indicators in buildings. The viability of obtaining the air renovation rate itself from measurements of the concentration of the metabolic CO2, and the possibilities to express this rate as function of other climatic variables, are studied. N2O tracer gas measurements have been taken as reference. A Test Cell and two full size buildings, with and without mechanical ventilation and with different levels of air leakage, are considered as case studies. One-month test campaigns have been used for the reference N2O tracer gas experiments. Longer periods are available for the analysis based on CO2 concentration. When the mechanical ventilation is not active, the results indicate significant correlation between the air renovation rate and the wind speed. The agreement between the N2O reference values and the evolution of the metabolic CO2 is larger for larger initial values of the CO2 concentration. When the mechanical ventilation is active, relevant variations have been observed among the N2O reference values along the test campaigns, without evidencing any correlation with the considered boundary variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major parameter controlling the extent and rate of oral drug absorption is permeability through the lipid bilayer of intestinal epithelial cells. Here, a biomimetic artificial membrane permeability assay (Franz–PAMPA Pampa) was validated using a Franz cells apparatus. Both high and low permeability drugs (metoprolol and mannitol, respectively) were used as external standards. Biomimetic properties of Franz–PAMPA were also characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR). Moreover, the permeation profile for eight Biopharmaceutic Classification System (BCS) model drugs cited in the FDA guidance and another six drugs (acyclovir, cimetidine, diclofenac, ibuprofen, piroxicam, and trimethoprim) were measured across Franz–PAMPA. Apparent permeability (Papp) Franz–PAMPA values were correlated with fraction of dose absorbed in humans (Fa%) from the literature. Papp in Caco-2 cells and Corti artificial membrane were likewise compared to Fa% to assess Franz–PAMPA performance. Mannitol and metoprolol Papp values across Franz–PAMPA were lower (3.20 × 10−7 and 1.61 × 10−5 cm/s, respectively) than those obtained across non-impregnated membrane (2.27 × 10−5 and 2.55 × 10−5 cm/s, respectively), confirming lipidic barrier resistivity. Performance of the Franz cell permeation apparatus using an artificial membrane showed acceptable log-linear correlation (R2 = 0.664) with Fa%, as seen for Papp in Caco-2 cells (R2 = 0.805). Data support the validation of the Franz–PAMPA method for use during the drug discovery process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal pyrolysis of polystyrene (PS) is gaining importance as the social pressure for achieving a circular economy is growing; moreover, the recovery of styrene monomer in such a process is especially relevant. In this study, a simple thermal pyrolysis process in the temperature range of 390–450 °C is developed. A working hypothesis is that by using a nitroxide-end functionalized PS (PS-T or dormant polymer), the initiation process for the production of monomer (unzipping) during the PS pyrolysis could be enhanced due to the tendency of the PS-T to activate at the nitroxide end. Two types of PS were used in this work, the first one was synthesized by free-radical polymerization (FRP-dead polymer) and the second by nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) using three levels of nitroxide to initiator ratio: 1.3, 1.1, and 0.9. Analysis of the recovered products of the pyrolysis by gas-mass spectroscopy shows that the yield of styrene increases from ∼33% in the case of dead polymer to ∼38.5% for PS-T. A kinetic and mathematical model for the pyrolysis of dead and dormant polymer is proposed and solved by the method of moments. After a parameter sensitivity study and data fitting, the model is capable of explaining the main experimental trends observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Freeze-drying or lyophilization is a dehydration process employed in high added-value food and biochemical goods. It helps to maintain product organoleptic and nutritional properties. The proper handling of the product temperature during the operation is critical to preserve quality and to reduce the process duration. Methods: Mathematical models are useful tools that can be used to design optimal policies that minimize production costs while keeping product quality. In this work, we derive an operational mathematical model to describe product quality and stability during the freeze-drying process. Model identification techniques are used to provide the model with predictive capabilities. Then, the model is used to design optimal control policies that minimize process time. Results and conclusion: Experimental measurements suggest splitting the process into two subsystems, product and chamber, to facilitate the calibration task. Both models are successfully validated using experimental data. Optimally designed control profiles are able to reduce the process duration by around 30% as compared with standard policies. The optimization task is introduced into a real time scheme to take into account unexpected process disturbances and model/plant mismatch. The implementation of the real time optimization scheme shows that this approach is able to compensate for such disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report on the isolation, purification, and anti-inflammatory evaluation of compounds from the plant species Ageratina pichinchensis. Using open-column chromatography, 11 known compounds were purified, which chemical structures were elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance techniques (1D and 2D). All compounds were evaluated in an in vitro model of RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cells, measuring the nitric oxide inhibition to determine the anti-inflammatory effect. The compound betuletol 3-O-β-glucoside (11) inhibited nitric oxide with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 75.08 ± 3.07% at 75 µM; additionally, it inhibited the secretion of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and activation of the nuclear factor (NF-kβ). These results suggest that the anti-inflammatory effect attributed to A. pichinchensis species is promoted by compound 11, which could be considered a potential anti-inflammatory agent by suppressing the expression of NF-kβ target genes, such as those involved in the proinflammatory pathway and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older people in low-population density regions tend to have fewer resources to engage in regular physical activity (PA) compared to their counterparts in urban areas. Moreover, PA assumes different dimensions, and the amount of PA related to each dimension may differ between women and men, predisposing them to different PA practices. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aims to describe the prevalence of barriers to PA, gender differences, and their associations with different PA dimensions. A total of 259 older adults (153 women and 106 men; age, 75.17 ± 8.05 years old) living in the community in the region of Guarda (Portugal) were interviewed face to face to record their sociodemographic characteristics, general health status (comorbidity index and self-reported health), PA behaviour, and barriers to PA. Women were more likely to report "low" income and living alone (p ≤ 0.05), while men reported a higher negative health status than women (p < 0.05). Two intrinsic ("Fear of injury" (40.1%) and "Need for rest" (26.3%)) and two extrinsic barriers ("Lack of nearby facilities" (30.5%) and "I don't have transport" (25.6%)) were the most prevalent. For women, age, self-reported health, comorbidity index, and intrinsic and extrinsic barriers were similarly associated with the different PA dimensions. However, only self-reported health and extrinsic barriers were the variables associated with the different PA dimensions in men. Therefore, strategies to promote active ageing in low-population density regions should be focused on reducing intrinsic and extrinsic barriers based on gender and the PA dimension to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most Western European societies, surnames pass from generation to generation and in cases where surnames are shared by fathers to children, the Y chromosome passes down from fathers to male offspring in the same way as surnames do. The aim of this study was to ascertain the patrilineal relationship between individuals with the surname "Castilla" and their respective Y-chromosome haplotypes. The toponymic surname "Castilla" is part of the Spanish royal family. Genealogical studies of this surname have allowed the formulation of different hypotheses about its origin, most of which were centered in Burgos. To shed some light on the origin of the surname Castilla and to investigate the possible co-ancestry behind the living carriers of this surname, markers located in the Y chromosome-specific region were analyzed in a sample of 102 men whose paternal surname was Castilla. The study aimed to establish the minimum number of founders and the expansion time of the lineages from our sample. Two major haplogroups were identified: R1b and E1b1b-M81. The high frequency of the E1b1b-M81 haplogroup in comparison to that of the general Spanish population, its low haplotype diversity, and its young TMRCA (323+/− 255 years CE) are compatible with the historical timing of the obligation to use surnames. However, the coincidence of the most common haplogroup in the Castilla sample and the most frequent haplogroup in the Spanish general population, R1b, makes it difficult to identify founder haplotypes/haplogroups in the history of the Castilla surname. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chronological period from the beginning of the Chalcolithic Age to the end of the Bronze Age on the Iberian northern sub-plateau of the Iberic Peninsula involves interesting social and cultural phenomena, such as the appearance of the Bell Beaker and, later, the Cogotas I cultures. This work constructs a genetic characterisation of the maternal lineages of the human population that lived on the northern sub-plateau between 5000 and 3000 years ago through an analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), a kind of genetic marker that is inherited through maternal lineages, unaltered from generation to generation. Population and cultural questions are investigated through mtDNA analyses. This study intends to shed light on the following questions. Were individuals who were buried together in multiple or collective burials biologically related through their maternal lineages? Were there distinct maternal human lineages in the same or different geographical areas if different material cultures (Bell Beaker and Cogotas I) were associated with the arrival of new human populations who established close biological relationships with the endogenous populations? Or could this be the result of the transmission of knowledge without human populations mixing? Another important question is whether the material cultures were related to the female populations. We analysed 91 individuals from 28 different archaeological sites of the Iberian northern sub-plateau from four different chrono-cultural periods (Pre-Bell Beaker, Bell Beaker, Proto-Cogotas I, and Cogotas I), from the end of the Chalcolithic Age up to the Bronze Age. There were two historical moments of new populations arriving: the first during the Pre-Bell Beaker period, associated with the K mtDNA haplogroup, and the second during the Proto-Cogotas I culture, with new lineages of the H, HVO, and T haplogroups. Neither of these new population flows were directly associated with the maximum development of the two main material cultures Bell Beaker and Cogotas I, so they must have occurred immediately beforehand, during the Pre-Bell Beaker and Proto-Cogotas I periods, respectively. However, we cannot discard an association between the populations and material cultures. Curiously, it has also been observed that there was also a tendency towards multiple burials, in which the individuals who were buried together belonged to the same maternal lineage, during these two periods of population change. This study has shed some light on the populational changes that occurred through these different periods in this specific geographical area of the northern sub-plateau of the Iberian Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resolution of inflammation is a complex process that is critical for removing inflammatory cells and restoring tissue function. The dysregulation of these mechanisms leads to chronic inflammatory disorders. Platelets, essential cells for preserving homeostasis, are thought to play a role in inflammation as they are a source of immunomodulatory factors. Our aim was to identify key metabolites carried by platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PL-EVs) in a model of allergic inflammation. PL-EVs were isolated by serial ultracentrifugation using platelet-rich plasma samples obtained from platelet apheresis from severely (n = 6) and mildly (n = 6) allergic patients and non-allergic individuals used as controls (n = 8). PL-EVs were analysed by a multiplatform approach using liquid and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS and GC-MS, respectively). PL-EVs obtained from severely and mildly allergic patients and control individuals presented comparable particle concentrations and sizes with similar protein concentrations. Strikingly, PL-EVs differed in their lipid and metabolic content according to the severity of inflammation. L-carnitine, ceramide (Cer (d18:0/24:0)), and several triglycerides, all of which seem to be involved in apoptosis and regulatory T functions, were higher in PL-EVs from patients with mild allergic inflammation than in those with severe inflammation. In contrast, PL-EVs obtained from patients with severe allergic inflammation showed an alteration in the arachidonic acid pathway. This study demonstrates that PL-EVs carry specific lipids and metabolites according to the degree of inflammation in allergic patients and propose novel perspectives for characterising the progression of allergic inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phoenicians were probably the first eastern Mediterranean population to establish long-distance connections with the West, namely the Iberian Peninsula, from the final Bronze to the early Iron Age. For a long time, these colonies all over the Mediterranean Sea directly depended on an important city administration, Gadir, the most important metropolis in the Western Mediterranean. Modern archaeological excavations were discovered in Cadiz (Spain), the ancient city of Gadir, as well as possible Phoenician burial places. The purpose of the present work is the molecular study of 16 individuals, (V–IV millennium B.C, V A.D.) from several burial places found in Cadiz, attempting to disclose their maternal biogeographical ancestry. Furthermore, the determination of a possible biological link between two individuals found buried together was also an objective of this investigation. Of all the 16 analyzed individuals, eight of them produced positive results. Three main lineages were found: HV0, H and L3b. In general, the results support an Eastern origin for this set of individuals, reinforcing the theory of a Phoenician origin. Due to their historical period, in some cases, it was not possible to discard a Roman origin. Finally, the maternal kinship between two individuals found buried together was discarded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regarding human identification in armed conflicts, various complications can be observed. Usually, such difficulties can be social-related, which can include the lack of access to the relative's genetic material, or the unwillingness of administrative and judicial authorities to participate in the process of identification. In the case of genetics, the analysis allows identifying the individual from a blood sample, a part of an organ, or from skeletal remains, which is why it is considered a much more extensive and effective method when compared with fingerprint techniques or odontology. However, several factors can prevent this identification, such as considerably degraded genetic material. For successful identification, it is mandatory to have access to antemortem biological samples unequivocally attributed to the individual in question, using recombinant nuclear markers, as well as using biological samples from close relatives, whether parents or sons. Nevertheless, the problems associated with armed conflicts make this type of study very difficult. In this article, we focus on the main difficulties encountered when identifying an individual victim of an armed conflict, as well as on the possibilities that exist and on viable measures that could be required to improve the identification of these victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to review the literature on lifestyle sports and lifestyle sport contexts with regard to the developmental potential they may represent in young people's everyday lives. The review applies a relational developmental systems approach to youth development. The eligibility criteria are based on the phenomenon of interest and outcomes. Hence, we include studies examining the associations between young people performing lifestyle sports and potential developmental outcomes: mental, biological, social, and behavioral. The present study shows that the volume of research on informal lifestyle sport is rather extensive and that studies on the way these activity contexts may affect developmental processes in youth are diverse and wide ranging. The studies suggest that performing lifestyle sports may have several beneficial health and skills outcomes. Furthermore, positive associations are suggested between involvement in lifestyle sport contexts such as climbing, snowboarding, parkour, tricking, kiting, and surfing and (a) mental outcomes such joy, happiness, freedom, euphoria, motivation, self-efficacy, and well-being; (b) social outcomes such as gender equality, network building, social inclusion, interaction, friendship; and (c) behavioral outcomes such as identity, creativity, and expressions of masculinity and/or femininity. The review performed indicates that lifestyle sport contexts are flexible according to needs and desires that exist among the practitioners and that the human and democratic origins of these contexts make them supportive for positive movement experiences and for positive youth development. The findings have implications for PE teachers, social workers, policymakers, sport organizations, and urban architecture, in that providing lifestyle sport opportunities in the everyday lives of young people will foster a holistic development in a positive way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the high penetration of automation on smart grids challenges electricity companies in providing an efficient distribution networks operation. In this sense, distribution system reconfiguration (DSR) plays an important role since it may help solve real-time problems. This paper proposes a methodology to solve the DSR problem using artificial immune systems (AIS) based on a new, efficient, and robust approach. This new methodology, called Enhanced Artificial Immune Systems (EAIS), uses the values of the currents in wires for intelligent mutations. The problem is accomplished by a multi-objective optimization with fuzzy variables, minimizing power losses, voltage deviation, and feeders load balancing. A comparison with other DSR solution methods is presented. The method is compared with two other previously proposed methods with the help of the 33-bus, 84-bus, and 136-bus distribution systems. Different scenarios are analyzed, including the optimal location of the Distributed Generation (DG). The results show the applicability of the proposed algorithm for the simultaneous solution of DSR and location or dispatch of DGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the European Council Directive 51/2013 EURATOM, the radionuclide content in human consumption waters must comply with the stated recommendations to ensure the protection of public health. The radiological characterisation assessed in Laboratorio de Radiaciones Ionizantes y Datación of Universidad de Salamanca, in more than 400 groundwater samples gathered from intakes intended for human consumption from the Castilla y León region (Spain), has provided worthwhile data for evaluating the spatial distribution of the radioactivity content in the Duero basin. For this purpose, geostatistical exploration and interpolation analysis, using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method, was performed. The IDW prediction maps showed higher radioactivity occurrence in western and southern areas of the study region, mainly related to the mineralogical influence of the igneous and metamorphosed outcroppings in the Cenozoic sediments that formed the porous detritic aquifers of the Duero basin edges. The hydraulic characteristics promote the distribution of these radioactivity levels towards the centre of the basin as a consequence of the unconfined nature of the aquifers. Prediction maps provide a worthwhile tool that can be used for better planning and managing of groundwater monitoring programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connectivity advances in industrial control systems have also increased the possibility of cyberattacks in industry. Thus, security becomes crucial in critical infrastructures, whose services are considered essential in fields such as manufacturing, energy or public health. Although theoretical and formal approaches are often proposed to advance in the field of industrial cybersecurity, more experimental efforts in realistic scenarios are needed to understand the impact of incidents, assess security technologies or provide training. In this paper, an approach for cybersecurity experimentation is proposed for several industrial areas. Aiming at a high degree of flexibility, the Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Laboratory (CICLab) is designed to integrate both real physical equipment with computing and networking infrastructure. It provides a platform for performing security experiments in control systems of diverse sectors such as industry, energy and building management. They allow researchers to perform security experimentation in realistic environments using a wide variety of technologies that are common in these control systems, as well as in the protection or security analysis of industrial networks. Furthermore, educational developments can be made to meet the growing demand of security-related professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Livestock breeds represent the diversity of livestock animals. They participate in the delivery of ecosystem services (ES), i.e., the benefits to humans provided by nature. In recent years, the contribution of livestock breeds to ES has received attention in livestock research. Additionally, there is increasing interest in integrating this knowledge into policies to make agriculture more sustainable. In this work, we elaborate on livestock breed characteristics that are key to the study of livestock breed contributions to ES. Thus, we explore the natural and human factors that have produced livestock breeds as ecologically and culturally mediated entities. In addition, we review the different roles of livestock breeds as biodiversity components. Finally, we examine how livestock breeds participate in livestock system heterogeneity. By integrating these aspects, we might better understand how livestock breeds provide and modulate ES provision and, therefore, how to improve breed conservation and livestock policies toward more sustainable farming. There is an increasing interest in assessing livestock breed contributions to ecosystem services (ES) and including this knowledge in decision making. However, this task has been limited due to the complexity of the multidimensional relationship between livestock diversity and ecosystem services. In this work, we elaborate on the livestock breed characteristics central to developing a comprehensive approach to livestock breed inclusion in the ecosystem services framework. Thus, we explore the multidimensional nature of livestock breeds, i.e., as eco-cultural entities, biodiversity components, and drivers of livestock system heterogeneity and functioning. First, anthropogenic and natural factors have acted jointly to develop breeds as eco-cultural entities. This fact represents an opportunity to move toward farming system sustainability by Nature-Based Solutions and Nature's Contribution to People paradigms. Second, livestock breeds are components of biodiversity, and as such, can be framed as goods, as final ecosystem services, and as regulators of ecosystem processes. Third, livestock breeds contribute to livestock system heterogeneity and resilience. By integrating these aspects, we might better understand how livestock breeds provide and modulate ecosystem service provision and, therefore, how to improve breed conservation and livestock policies toward farming system sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What might it mean to "wear the good?" This question arises from a dominating trend in contemporary spaces where objects such as clothing are employed to communicate desires and demonstrate ethical commitments to social causes, political institutions, beliefs, and ideologies. This paper explores the use of garments to convey messages, ethical stances, and even public virtues. It specifically attends to how "messaged" garments, or clothing items that bear images, symbols, and phrases, achieve these ends. Fashion theorist Malcom Barnard rightly intuits that "we have to use things to stand for our thoughts." Yet the use of these garments warrants concern. This paper explores how such garments are enmeshed in the fashion industry and marketplace, identifying specific troubles that arise therein. Engaging the writings of Søren Kierkegaard, this paper attends to the ethical and spiritual complexities of "messaged" apparel, revealing their failure to supersede ambiguities, and ultimately collapsing ethical desires into aesthetic paralysis. The paper argues that a Kierkegaardian conception of hope can effectively guide those who wear such garments, countering the inadequacy of these wares to sustain personal and communal commitments. Hope directs the "worn" person beyond politicized and ethically "messaged" apparel towards new ways of dressing: adorned in finitude, humility, and an absurd perseverance towards the good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, we evaluate the prediction capability of six pedotransfer functions (PTFs), reported in the literature, for the saturated hydraulic conductivity estimations (KS). We used a database with 900 measured samples obtained from the Irrigation District 023, in San Juan del Rio, Queretaro, Mexico. Additionally, six new PTFs were constructed for KS from clay percentage, bulk density, and saturation water content data. The results show, for the evaluated models, that one model presents an overestimation for KS > 0.5 cm h−1 values, three models have an underestimation for KS > 1.0 cm h−1, and two models have a good correlation (R2 > 0.98) but more than three parameters are necessary. Nevertheless, the last two models require 3–4 parameters in order to obtain optimization. On the other hand, the models proposed in this work have a similar correlation with fewer parameters. The fit is seen to be much better than using the existing ones, achieving a correlation of R2 = 0.9822 with only one variable and R2 = 0.9901 when we use two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil water movement is important in fields such as soil mechanics, irrigation, drainage, hydrology, and agriculture. The Richards equation describes the flow of water in an unsaturated porous medium, and analytical solutions exist only for simplified cases. However, numerous practical situations require a numerical solution (1D, 2D, or 3D) depending on the complexity of the studied problem. In this paper, numerical solution of the equation describing water infiltration into soil using the finite difference method is studied. The finite difference solution is made via iterative schemes of local balance, including explicit, implicit, and intermediate methods; as a special case, the Laasonen method is shown. The found solution is applied to water transfer problems during and after gravity irrigation to observe phenomena of infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, and percolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral education and moral growth are very important topics, and have been so as much in the fields of moral psychology and moral education as in the policies of governments and international institutions over the past decades. These two topics are also central themes within the educational proposal of Philosophy for Children (P4C), as seen in theoretical reflection and in educational research. It is necessary to start from a more global approach to moral growth, focused on the development of capacities. Such abilities are to be understood as virtues or personality traits that enable us to achieve a full life, that is, to become good people. The transformation of classrooms into communities of philosophical inquiry, following the educational guidelines of P4C, can contribute to the achievement of this objective. Here we present the psychological and methodological underpinnings of an educational research project that we are applying to a small sample that includes two groups—experimental and control—in a typical classroom environment. We are administering tests at the beginning and the end of the application of a moral education model according to the basic principles of Philosophy for Children. The objective is to verify that our research design could be used to evaluate the contribution of this educational model to the students' moral growth, understood as the consolidation of the students' moral habits and competences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) is a term that encompasses a group of novel technologies able to interconvert electrical energy and chemical energy by means of a bioelectroactive biofilm. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems, which branch off from BESs, are able to convert CO2 into valuable organic chemicals and fuels. This study demonstrates that CO2 reduction in MES systems can be enhanced by enriching the inoculum and improving CO2 availability to the biofilm. The proposed system is proven to be a repetitive, efficient, and selective way of consuming CO2 for the production of acetic acid, showing cathodic efficiencies of over 55% and CO2 conversions of over 80%. Continuous recirculation of the gas headspace through the catholyte allowed for a 44% improvement in performance, achieving CO2 fixation rates of 171 mL CO2 L−1·d−1, a maximum daily acetate production rate of 261 mg HAc·L−1·d−1, and a maximum acetate titer of 1957 mg·L−1. High-throughput sequencing revealed that CO2 reduction was mainly driven by a mixed-culture biocathode, in which Sporomusa and Clostridium, both bioelectrochemical acetogenic bacteria, were identified together with other species such as Desulfovibrio, Pseudomonas, Arcobacter, Acinetobacter or Sulfurospirillum, which are usually found in cathodic biofilms. Moreover, results suggest that these communities are responsible of maintaining a stable reactor performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, I argue that Psalm 23 serves as a thematic rubric through which to understand how Prospero's machinations affect the progress of the redemption of King Alonso throughout the play. At the same time, however, recognizing Prospero's moral complexities and deficiencies, I also argue that Prospero's mercy toward and reconciliation with Alonso ultimately demonstrates the sovereign influence of a Providence beyond Prospero's control—a Providence that works through charity and grace beyond Prospero's initial intentions. This higher providential power, therefore, ought rightly to be seen as the ultimate shepherd of the play—one who works to affect not only Alonso's but also Prospero's spiritual restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is the study and analysis of a set of revived utopian communities today, understood as contemporary spiritual heresies from theoretical perspectives close to postmodern critiques. Following ethnographic research over a series of years in different locations across the four continents, this socio-anthropological contribution highlights the characteristics, development and social image of this complex and largely unknown social and spiritual reality. The approach goes beyond the spatial—it includes not only the "being there" and living with the utopian individuals in their own communities for years—but also a temporal dimension, with emphasis placed on their continuity, on the existence of heterodox and heretical groups and communities throughout history. The new ethical critique, environmental problems, and the fear of an imminent sixth extinction guide us in the exploration of new millenarian beliefs emerging from the new spiritual movements born in what is called New Age. A detailed review by these cults—which appear to not follow any recognizable pattern—allows us to understand how some ideas are used in the post-capitalist era or—for the most critical—the eco-capitalist era. We approach the utopian communities understanding them as key strongholds of a counterculture that has aligned with the times, exploring their symbolic spaces and their idea of progress based, among other premises, on degrowth and voluntary simplicity. This is an approach to today's heresies disguised as modernity. A look at religiousness turned spirituality in utopian movements of our time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large buildings cause more than 20% of the global energy consumption in advanced countries. In buildings such as hospitals, cooling loads represent an important percentage of the overall energy demand (up to 44%) due to the intensive use of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems among other key factors, so their study should be considered. In this paper, we propose a data-driven analysis for improving the efficiency in multiple-chiller plants. Coefficient of performance (COP) is used as energy efficiency indicator. Data analysis, based on aggregation operations, filtering and data projection, allows us to obtain knowledge from chillers and the whole plant, in order to define and tune management rules. The plant manager software (PMS) that implements those rules establishes when a chiller should be staged up/down and which chiller should be started/stopped according different efficiency criteria. This approach has been applied on the chiller plant at the Hospital of León. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Bay of Algeciras (BA), intensive urban and industrial activityis underway, which is potentially responsible for the release of significant quantities of nutrients. However, the assessment of the impact of these discharges is complex. Nutrient concentration in the surface layer is per se strongly variable due to the variability associated with the upwelling of nutrient-enriched deep Mediterranean water (MW), which in turn is regulated by atmospheric forcing. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of changes in the upwelling intensity on the load of nitrate and phosphate in the BA and to appraise their impact on chlorophyll a variability. Based on this analysis, the possible influence of the nutrients released from land-based sources is indirectly inferred. Data and samples collected during nine research cruises carried out in different seasonal cycle periods between 2010 and 2015 in the BA were analysed. The vertical variation of temperature and salinity indicates that the MW upwelling was favoured in spring, as occurred in other coastal areas of the northern Alboran Sea. However, principal component analysis conducted on physical and chemical data reveals that shifts in nutrients and chlorophyll a in the euphotic layer are poorly explained by changes in the upwelling intensity. Furthermore, during some of these research surveys (particularly in summer), chlorophyll a concentrations were higher in the BA as compared to a nearby coastal area also affected by MW upwelling. Scarce information about land-based pollution sources precludes quantitative analysis of the impact of nutrient loads on water quality; however, the available data suggest that the main source of allochthanous inorganic nitrogen over the period 2010–2015 in the BA was nitrate. Therefore, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the high concentrations of nitrate and chlorophyll a in BA in summer are a consequence of those discharges. Our study highlights the need of more exhaustive inventories of sewage and river discharges to adequately rate their impact in the BA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rock Art Studies Bibliographic Database is an open access; online resource that fulfills the need for a searchable portal into the world’s rock art literature. Geared to the broadest interests of rock art researchers; students; cultural resource managers; and the general public; the RAS database makes rock art literature accessible through a simple search interface that facilitates inquiries into multiple data fields; including authors’ names; title and publication; place-name keyword; subject keyword; ISBN/ISSN number and abstract. The results of a data search can further be sorted by any of the data fields; including: authors’ names; date; title; and so forth. An ever increasing number of citations within the database include web links to online versions of the reference cited; and many citations include full author’s abstracts. The data compilation has been undertaken by Leigh Marymor with the year 2018 marking the 25th year of continuous revision and expansion of the data. Over 37,000 citations are currently contained in the database. The RAS database first launched online as a joint project of the Bay Area Rock Art Research Association and University of California’s Bancroft Library. After thirteen years of collaboration; the project found a new home and collaborator at the Anthropology Department at the Museum of Northern Arizona. The Paleolithic Rock Art bibliography results from an export of data from the RAS database and captures a freeze-frame in the state of the rock art literature for the world’s Paleolithic rock art as compiled here in the year 2018. The online version of the RAS Bibliographic Database at the Museum of Northern Arizona is updated annually; and we refer the reader to that resource for up-to-date bibliographic data revisions and additions. Researchers who consult the online database in concert with their reference to the Paleolithic Rock Art bibliography will discover a powerful ally in further refining geographic and thematic inquiries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]