Search

Abstract In the digital marketing era, a viral brand campaign is a potent marketing tool for a brand, enabling it to derive multiple benefits through rapid and widespread information diffusion. Despite the important role of brand viral campaigns, existing studies have minimally explored the effect of viral campaign values on consumer behaviours, especially on a set of consumers’ online brand-related activities (COBRAs). Therefore, this study bridges this gap by proposing a detailed framework to measure the impact of viral campaigns on COBRAs through the aspects of medium, content, and interaction. To investigate this phenomenon, a survey was conducted with 409 respondents from the US, employing partial least-squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that six values of brand viral campaigns, including ease of browsing, hedonic value, functional value, aesthetic value, social interaction, and self-identity, significantly motivate consumers to actively engage in COBRAs. By examining COBRAs’ motivations in the viral brand campaign context, this study expands the existing literature with a comprehensive model of campaign values. Furthermore, by elucidating the impact of each campaign value on COBRAs, this study offers valuable insights to marketers and suggests effective strategies to engage consumers with brands.

238U and 234U concentrations, 238U/234U ratios and Na, Ca, Mg, K, Al, As, Cd concentrations were measured in selected surface waters (streams, rivers and lakes), ground waters (dug wells) and underground waters (drill wells and thermal waters) in Quang Nam and Da Nang provinces, Central Vietnam. The mineralization was < 500 mg L−1 and Al, As, Cd contents were a few tenths of µg L−1. 234U and 238U activities were between 0.47–27.6 mBq L−1 and 0.6–15.0 mBq L−1 respectively, these values are lower than WHO recommended limits. Uranium contents trended as Urivers < Ustreams < Ulakes < Udig wells < Uthermal water < Udrill wells. The 234U/238U ratio ranged from 0.69 to 2.31 with 1.26 on average. For groundwaters, the ratio scattered around one. Effects of Nong Son uranium deposit located in Quang Nam region were not observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to evaluate effects of biochar levels in diets on in vitro methane emission and rumen fermentation. Biochar, produced from rice husk, pyrolysis at 700 °C, was supplemented in diets at 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7% (dry matter (DM) basis). Total gas, methane production, dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) digestibility, pH, and NH3-N concentration were measured at 4, 24, and 48 h after incubation. Results showed that total gas and methane emission of diets with biochar was lower than that of the diet without biochar. Methane production decreased linearly (P < 0.01) with increasing biochar levels. DM and OM digestibility, as well as NH3-N concentration of diets with 1 or 3% biochar, was similar to the diet without biochar. When the dietary biochar level was increased up to 5 or 7% in diets, OM and DM digestibility and NH3-N concentration decreased significantly compared to the diet without biochar (P < 0.01). Our findings implicated that supplementing 3% biochar (DM basis) to the diet is recommended to reduce methane production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethanol is the most commonly encountered substance in forensic toxicology. Determining blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in autopsies accounts for the majority of work in forensic diagnosis. The most common method to assess BAC is the enzymatic oxidation method because of its low cost, easy operation, and high throughput. Still, the elevated lactate and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in postmortem blood may affect accuracy. This study uses headspace gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (HS-GC/FID) to assess the interference of lactate and LDH levels on BAC in 110 autopsied blood samples determined by the enzymatic oxidation method. The results showed that lactate and LDH levels in postmortem blood were higher than in normal blood. There was a weak correlation between the lactate levels and BAC difference (r = 0.23, p < 0.05) and a strong correlation between LDH levels and BAC difference (r = 0.67, p < 0.001). The differentiation of BAC between the enzymatic oxidation method and HS-GC/FID was significant (p < 0.001), confirming the interference significantly. All postmortem blood samples with lactate and LDH levels higher than regular lead to a positive error in determining BAC by enzymatic oxidation method. The study results suggest that the HS-GC/FID method should be used to determine BAC in postmortem blood samples instead of the enzymatic oxidation method to avoid mistakes in forensic diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive investigation on optimum layer thickness and fiber orientations of laminated composite plates against buckling under complex loading conditions by using a new optimization procedure that effectively utilizes computational efforts. In this proposed procedure, a finite element model of the laminated composite plates is developed for the buckling analysis and the interior point optimization procedure is used to maximize the buckling coefficient, aiming to determine the optimum values of fiber orientation angles and thickness. In optimization scenarios, the laminated composite plates are subjected to single and complex loading conditions, including compression, shear, bending and a combination of two or more of these loading types. The computational performance of the proposed optimization procedure is evaluated to investigate and present the effect of various factors including the number of layers, length-to-thickness ratios, aspect ratios, and boundary conditions on the optimum buckling analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of longitudinal groove cavities on drag and flow behavior was investigated for the axisymmetric model acquired by different conical boattail models. The angle of the boattail was changed from 0 to 22° to understand the influence of cavities on the aerodynamic drag and flow behaviors. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation with turbulent model k-ω SST was used for the investigation. The simulation was conducted at a velocity of 22 m/s by Ansys Fluent software. Numerical results of the boundary layer, velocity fields, pressure, and drag were first validated by experiments at the same flow conditions. Our results indicate that the grooved cavity allows a reduction of aerodynamic drag up to 24 % for the boattail model of 22°. Additionally, a 6 % drag reduction was also observed for the boattail model of around 14°, where the drag is minimal. The decreasing drag is connected to an increasing base pressure, which is from shortening wake structure and increasing boattail pressure around the shoulder. The longitudinal grooves are found an effective passive control device for narrowing flow separation on the boattail. The details of pressure distributions, flow structure at the surface, and near-wake structure were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytical method to investigate the nonlinear forced vibration of the sandwich plate resting on Pasternak-type foundations subjected to the combination of the mechanical, thermal, electric and magnetic loadings is presented in this paper. The sandwich plate is composed of penta-graphene core with negative Poisson's ratio and two magneto-electro-elastic face sheets. The temperature-dependent elastic characteristics of penta-graphene core are determined by density functional theory. For magneto-electro-elastic material, the material properties depend on the volume fraction of piezoelectric and piezomagnetic phases which are assumed to be equal. The Hamilton's principle and Reddy's higher order shear deformation plate theory are used to derive basic equations of motion. The effects of different parameters such as magnetic and electric potentials, elastic foundations coefficients, temperature increment, initial imperfection, viscous damping and geometrical parameters on the natural frequency, nonlinear to linear frequency ratio and dynamic response of the sandwich plate are discussed in details. The numerical results of this work are also compared with the results available in the literature in order to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the skin is the first organ to be impacted by radiation, keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) are frequently used as an in vitro model for testing potential radioprotective agents. Melanin extracted from squid ink was considered an antioxidant compound and a possible radioprotector. In this study, nanomelanin was prepared at a size of 100–200 nm from isolated squid melanin. The zeta potential of melanin nanoparticles and the functional groups on their surface were investigated. The antioxidant activity of nanomelanin was examined by the DPPH method. Keratinocyte cells were incubated with or without melanin particles for 24 h before being irradiated in various doses. The radioprotective properties of nanomelanin after 3 days post-radiation were examined by cell survival rates. Treatment with nanomelanin enhances the percentage of cell viability by 10%, depending on the dose of radiation. At 2 days post-radiation, cell groups treated with nanomelanin were reduced to the transcription levels of gene coding BAX, TNF-α, and Caspase 3 for the cellular apoptosis process at various doses (3–5 Gy) of radiotherapy in comparison with control and eliminated the apoptotic cell rate as analyzed by flow cytometry methods. Furthermore, at 3 Gy, melanin nanoparticles promoted the transcription level gene coding SOD1 enzyme by 3.4 folds compared to control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Innate immune activation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, metabolic pathways that govern this bioenergetically demanding process in ALS remains elusive. Here we investigated whether and how immunometabolic transformation of innate immune cells contributes to disease progression in an experimental model of this neurodegenerative disease. Methods: We utilized multidimensional flow cytometry and integrative metabolomics to characterize the immunometabolic phenotype of circulating and spinal cord innate immune cells in the B6SJL-Tg(SOD1*G93A)1Gur/J model of ALS (SOD1-G93A) at various disease stages (before vs. after the onset of motor dysfunction). Behavioral and survival analyses were also conducted to determine the impact of an energy-regulating compound on innate immune cell metabolism, inflammation, and disease development. Results: Temporally coordinated accumulation of circulating inflammatory Ly6C + monocytes and spinal cord F4/80 + CD45hi infiltrates precedes the onset of motor dysfunction in SOD1-G93A mice. Subsequent metabolomic analysis reveals that this phenomenon is accompanied by glycolytic reprogramming of spinal cord inflammatory CD11b + cells, comprising both resident F4/80 + CD45low microglia and F4/80 + CD45hi infiltrates. Furthermore, pharmacologic inhibition of glycolysis by ZLN005, a small molecule activator of Ppargc1a, restrains inflammatory glycolytic activation of spinal cord CD11b + cells, enhances motor function, and prolongs survival in SOD1-G93A mice. Conclusions: These observations suggest that modulation of inflammatory glycolytic reprogramming of innate immune cells may represent a promising therapeutic approach in ALS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study finite-time performance of a recently proposed distributed dual subgradient (DDSG) method for convex-constrained multi-agent optimization problems. The algorithm enjoys performance guarantees on the last primal iterate, as opposed to those derived for ergodic means for standard DDSG algorithms. Our work improves the recently published convergence rate of O (log T / T) with decaying step-sizes to O (1 / T) with constant step-size on a metric that combines sub-optimality and constraint violation. We then numerically evaluate the algorithm on three grid optimization problems. Namely, these are tie-line scheduling in multi-area power systems, coordination of distributed energy resources in radial distribution networks, and joint dispatch of transmission and distribution assets. The DDSG algorithm applies to each problem with various relaxations and linearizations of the power flow equations. The numerical experiments illustrate various properties of the DDSG algorithm–comparison with standard DDSG, impact of the number of agents, and why Nesterov-style acceleration can fail in DDSG settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we investigate a contraction-type method for solving monotone variational inclusion problems in real Hilbert spaces. We obtain strong convergence theorems for two algorithms with a self-adaptive step size for solving monotone variational inclusions. The advantage of our algorithms is that we do not require a cocoercivity assumption nor do we need to know the Lipschitz-type constant of the single-valued operator. Moreover, a convergence rate is derived in the case where one of the operators is maximally and strongly monotone, and the other is monotone and Lipschitz continuous. The performance of our proposed methods is illustrated by numerical experiments regarding signal recovery. Our results improve and extend some known results, and our experiments show that our proposed algorithms are efficient and outperform other algorithms which are available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studies gold nanoparticle (AuNP) nucleation and growth mechanism from deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based choline chloride and glycerol (glyceline) onto glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and its application for DNA biosensor. Investigation of the current density transients indicated that the AuNPs were formed by the simultaneous presence of Au diffusion-controlled 3D nucleation and growth and residual water reaction over the Au nuclei growing surfaces. The AuNP structure was characterized by the field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. AuNPs were used to fabricate electrochemical DNA sensor. The hybridization was monitored by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement using potassium ferri/ferrocyanide redox probes F e (C N) 6 3 - / 4 - as the indicator probe. Results show that the biosensor exhibited a linear correlation to the logarithm of the target DNA concentration ranged from 1.10−14 M to 1.10−9 M, and the limit of detection was 1.10−14 M. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the prepared electrode exhibited excellent reproducibility and long-term stability when applied for determining M. tuberculosis samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates an interval analysis method for neural networks and applies it to fault detection for systems with unknown but bounded measurement noise. First, a novel interval analysis method is presented, which can compute the bounds of the output of a feedforward neural network subject to a bounded input. By applying the proposed interval analysis method to a network trained with fault-free system data, adaptive thresholds for fault detection are computed. Finally, one can acquire fault detection results via a fault detection strategy. The proposed method can achieve tight bounds of the network output and employ simple operations, which leads to accurate fault detection results and a low computational burden. A numerical simulation and an experiment on an AC servo motor are given to illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing global climate crisis increases temperatures in polar regions faster and with greater magnitude than elsewhere. The decline of Arctic sea ice opens up new passages, eventually leading to higher anthropogenic activities such as shipping, fishing, and mining. Climate change and anthropogenic activities will increase contaminant transport from temperate to Arctic regions. The shipping industry uses copper as an antifouling coating. Copper is an essential element but becomes toxic at excess concentrations, and its use may inadvertently affect non-target organisms such as copepods. Copper affects copepods by lowering reproductive output, prolonging developmental time, and causing increased mortality. As data on copper sensitivity of polar copepods at low temperatures are rare, we conducted onboard survival experiments with the Arctic region's most common copepod species (Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis, C. hyperboreus). Acute survival tests were done for up to 8 days on individuals in 70 ml bottles at 1 °C with nominal copper concentrations ranging from 3 to 480 μg L−1. We used a reduced General Unified Threshold model for Survival (GUTS) to analyse the data, and placed our results in the context of the few published copper sensitivity data of the Antarctic and temperate copepod species at low temperatures. The sensitivity of Cu exposure was similar between the three Calanus species. However, a model comparison suggests that the tested C. glacialis population is less sensitive than the other two species in our experiments. Compared to published data, the three Arctic species appear slightly less sensitive to copper compared to their Antarctic counterparts but more compared to their temperate ones. Our literature search revealed only a few available studies on the copper sensitivity of polar copepods. In the future, this species group will be exposed to more pollutants, which warrants more studies to predict potential risks, especially given possible interactions with environmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a novel projection method for finding a solution of equilibrium problems EP(C, f) in Euclidean spaces in which the bifunction does not require to be satisfied any monotonicity. Unlike methods for solving such a problem used in the literature, shrinking projection methods which may raise cost of computation, we suggest using an adaptive projection method incorporate with linesearch procedures to solve these problems when the bifunction does not satisfy the Lipschitz-type condition. These linesearches are unnecessary when f satisfies the Lipschitz-type condition with constants L 1 and L 2 . In case these constants are unknown, we propose to use the adaptive step sizes. All algorithms are proven to converge to a solution of the considered problem, and some numerical examples are also reported to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, pregnant and lactating populations (PLP) have been excluded or disenrolled from biomedical HIV prevention trials, despite being more likely to acquire HIV during pregnancy and the post-partum period. We conducted a meta-analysis of pregnancy events in biomedical HIV prevention trials in sub-Saharan Africa to support trialists moving toward more inclusive clinical and implementation studies. We searched peer-reviewed literature reporting pregnancy events and contraceptive requirements in HIV prevention trials between 2001 and 2022. We hypothesized four variables to explain variation: contraceptive requirements, study start year, study product, and sub-region. We fit a meta-analytic model to estimate individual effect sizes and sampling variances, then conducted sub-group analyses to assess moderating effects. We identified 38 references for inclusion, across which the proportion of pregnancy events was 8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6–10%) with high heterogeneity (I2 = 99%). Studies not requiring contraceptives (21%, 95%CI: 7–48%) reported a significantly higher proportion of pregnancy events than studies requiring two methods (5%, 95%CI: 2–10%). Studies launched between 2001 and 2007 (11%, 95%CI: 8–16%), microbicide gel trials (12%, 95%CI: 8–18%), and studies conducted in Western Africa (28%, 95%CI: 13–51%) reported higher proportions of pregnancy events than reference groups. Together, these variables have a moderating effect on pregnancy events (p < 0.0001), explaining 63% of heterogeneity in trials. Results describe how, over time, more stringent contraceptive requirements reduced pregnancy events, which ensured necessary statistical power but limited reproductive choice by participants. With the move toward continuing PLP on experimental products, trialists can utilize estimated pregnancy events reported here to inform strategies that accommodate participants' changing fertility preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As a first step towards developing a core outcome set (COS) for lateral femoral cutaneous neuropathy, the goal of the current study was to perform a systematic review of the literature to identify outcome measures that have been previously reported in studies on lateral femoral cutaneous neuropathy. Methods: A systematic review of the literature from 2000–2024 was performed utilizing PubMed and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Identified articles were screened according to study inclusion/exclusion criteria. Outcome measures reported in each included study were recorded and categorized into motor, sensory, pain, patient-reported outcomes, psychological, electrodiagnostic outcomes, imaging outcomes, and other outcomes. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: A total of 80 articles were initially identified, and 10 articles met criteria for inclusion and underwent analysis. The most common outcome domain was patient-reported outcomes, which were reported in 7 (70%) studies. However, the specific patient-reported outcomes were very heterogeneous. A pain outcome was reported in 6 (60%) studies. Motor, psychological, imaging, and electrodiagnostic outcomes were not reported in any study. Across the included studies, 14 unique outcomes were reported. Conclusions: We have identified the outcome measures that have previously been utilized in studies on lateral femoral cutaneous neuropathy. Patient-reported and pain outcomes were most commonly used across the included studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: HPV- associated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is uncommon in non-oropharynx sites and not well characterized. This study aims to investigate uncommon phenotypes of HPV-associated head and neck carcinoma, the prevalence and morphologic spectrum of HPV-associated SCC in the oral cavity, larynx and hypopharynx. Method: P16 immunostaining and HPV E6/7 in situ hybridization (ISH) were performed on tissue microarrays comprised of SCCs from different anatomic sites: oropharynx (n = 270), hypopharynx (n = 52), oral cavity (n = 95) and larynx (n = 123). Tumors were classified as HPV-associated based on a positive E6/7 ISH testing. RNA sequencing was performed on several selected cases. Result: 66% oropharynx SCCs (OPSCCs) were HPV-associated; all were p16/HPV testing concordant except one which was p16 negative. The p16-/HPV + OPSCC resembled similar gene expression signature with p16+/HPV + OPSCCs by transcriptome analysis. 6/95 (6%) oral cavity SCCs were HPV-associated, all from male patients and 5/6 (83%) arose from the floor of mouth. Morphologically, 3/6 (50%) showed keratinizing SCC and 5/6 (83%) demonstrated HPV-associated squamous dysplasia in adjacent mucosa. 1/123 (less than 1%) larynx SCCs and 0/52 hypopharynx SCCs were HPV-associated. Conclusion: Although uncommon, p16 negative HPV-associated OPSCC can occur, emphasizing the importance of judicious HPV testing. The morphology of HPV-associated oral cavity SCCs may deviate from prototypic nonkeratinizing SCC, making them difficult to recognize. Presence of HPV-associated squamous dysplasia could serve as a morphologic clue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated Vietnamese people's behavior and future intention to purchase medicines and functional foods online and their associated factors. From March to May 2023, a Google Form questionnaire was distributed via social networks and online platforms. Convenience and snowballing sampling methods were employed to recruit 1,305 Vietnamese people. In the past year, 50.3% of participants purchased at least one kind of medicine and/or functional foods online (medicines: 27.6%, functional foods: 45.1%). Among 656 buyers, nearly a third bought these products more than three times and only 5.9% felt dissatisfied with their previous experiences. This purchasing behavior was more prevalent among females, those married, having higher education levels, usually shopping online, having longer time of Internet use per day, and seeking health information on the Internet (p < 0.001). In addition, 77.5% of participants intended to purchase these products online in the future and 61.2% would introduce this kind of online purchase to other people. The purchase intention was significantly associated with the participants' previous experiences, area, contracting chronic diseases, and using the Internet for self-medication, while factors associated with the introducing intention included their education level, occupation, and previous experiences in online purchases (p < 0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current KDS 14 design method yields reasonable accuracy with acceptable safety in assessing the unbalanced moment-carrying capacity of slab–column connections. However, the model requires considerable computational effort owing to the effects of various design parameters, particularly the gravity-load effect. This study proposes a method to simplify the KDS 14 model to evaluate the unbalanced moment-carrying capacity of slab–column connections. In the proposed method, the gravity-load effect is decoupled from equations used for evaluating unbalanced moment-carrying capacity components. Subsequently, the total unbalanced moment-carrying capacity is determined by establishing an interaction between the gravity shear ratio and unbalanced moment components without considering the gravity-load effect. For practical design purposes, final simplified design equations are proposed. The reliability of the simplified method is validated based on a comparison with the current KDS 14 design code using a comprehensive database encompassing interior, exterior, and corner slab–column connections. Furthermore, a parametric study based on the proposed simplified approach, current design codes, combined with finite-element (FE) analysis is performed to elucidate the effects of constituents on the unbalanced moment-carrying capacity of corner slab–column connections. The results show that the proposed simplified model and KDS design method are strongly correlated with the experimental and FE results for a range of design parameters. Meanwhile, the ACI 318 model consistently provides a lower limit for strength prediction, thus yielding overly conservative and safe results compared with the test and FE results in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The licensing step of DNA double-strand break repair by homologous recombination entails resection of DNA ends to generate a single-stranded DNA template for assembly of the repair machinery consisting of the RAD51 recombinase and ancillary factors1. DNA end resection is mechanistically intricate and reliant on the tumour suppressor complex BRCA1–BARD1 (ref. 2). Specifically, three distinct nuclease entities—the 5′–3′ exonuclease EXO1 and heterodimeric complexes of the DNA endonuclease DNA2, with either the BLM or WRN helicase—act in synergy to execute the end resection process3. A major question concerns whether BRCA1–BARD1 directly regulates end resection. Here, using highly purified protein factors, we provide evidence that BRCA1–BARD1 physically interacts with EXO1, BLM and WRN. Importantly, with reconstituted biochemical systems and a single-molecule analytical tool, we show that BRCA1–BARD1 upregulates the activity of all three resection pathways. We also demonstrate that BRCA1 and BARD1 harbour stand-alone modules that contribute to the overall functionality of BRCA1–BARD1. Moreover, analysis of a BARD1 mutant impaired in DNA binding shows the importance of this BARD1 attribute in end resection, both in vitro and in cells. Thus, BRCA1–BARD1 enhances the efficiency of all three long-range DNA end resection pathways during homologous recombination in human cells.Using highly purified protein factors, we provide evidence that BRCA1–BARD1 physically interacts with EXO1, BLM and WRN and upregulates the activity of all three resection pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southeast Asia includes several global biodiversity hotspots and bats account for nearly one-third of mammal species currently known in the region. While acoustic methods have become widespread in bat research, basic information is often lacking on the echolocation calls produced by Asian bat species. Since such information can aid a wide variety of research and conservation initiatives, descriptions of the calls emitted by Asian bats are fundamental. The aim of our study was to provide a standardized analysis and description of the Vietnamese bat echolocation calls. We analyzed call recordings of 87 species arranged in eight families. This constitutes 74% of the echolocating bats presently known in Vietnam and includes the first call descriptions for five taxa. Our use of an open-source software and the deposition of recordings in the ChiroVox repository will facilitate comparative studies in Asia and the information we provide represents one of the most comprehensive bioacoustic databases for Asian bats to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the ill-posed inverse problem of determining an unknown source term appearing in abstract fractional diffusion-wave equations from a general noise assumption. Based on a Hölder-type source condition, we give the theoretical order optimality as well as the conditional stability result. To solve the problem, we propose fractional filter regularization methods, which can be regarded as an extension of the classical Tikhonov and Landweber methods. The idea is first to transform the problem into an ill-posed operator equation, then construct the regularization methods for the operator equation by introducing a suitable fractional filter function. As a natural further step, we study the convergence of the regularization methods, for which we derive order optimal rates of convergence under both a priori and a posteriori parameter choice rules. Applications of our fractional filter functions to both the fractional Tikhonov and the fractional Landweber filters are also investigated. Finally, three numerical examples in one-dimensional and two-dimensional cases are tested to validate our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the higher-order nonsmooth optimality conditions for vector optimization problems with inequality, equality and set constraints in terms of the higher-order Gâteaux derivatives. First, we propose various higher-order Mangasarian–Fromovitz nonsmooth constraint qualifications for such problems. Second, we formulate higher-order KKT-type necessary optimality conditions for the local weak efficient solutions of the nonsmooth vector equilibrium problem with constraints (CVEP) and its special cases. An application of the result to the resources assignment problem with set, inequality, equality constraints is derived. Under some suitable assumptions involving a set constraint, the higher-order nonsmooth necessary optimality conditions become the higher-order sufficient optimality conditions via the higher-order directional/Gâteaux derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the attempts of measuring the thickness of a steel operation pipe occurring in the salt cavern and its geometry using an ultrasonic probe in the stage of computer simulation and laboratory are presented. The pipe makes as an obstacle for ultrasonic waves. In order to resolve this task, we need to determine the thickness of the pipe and choose the appropriate resonant ultrasonic wave. Determination of the thickness of the industrial steel pipes was carried out using the resonant frequency of reflected ultrasound waves and the relationship coefficients. The thicknesses of the industrial pipes measured by the resonant ultrasound wave method are in good agreement with those measured using an electronic caliper. Measurements of the cavern geometry with presence of the operation pipe using the resonant frequency of ultrasonic wave were well verified in a physical model and will be able in application to determine the real salt caverns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For any odd prime p, we provide in this paper two new classes of AMDS symbol-pair cyclic codes of length 4p, one of symbol-pair distance 7 and one of symbol-pair distance 8. This results in two families of AMDS symbol-pair cyclic codes that can be used directly in applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The MicraVR™ transcatheter pacing system (TPS) has been implemented into clinical routine for several years. The primary recipients are patients in need for VVI pacing due to bradycardia in the setting of atrial fibrillation (AF). Implantation safety and acute success have been proven in controlled studies and registries. So far only few long-term real-life data on TPS exist. We report indication, procedure and outcome data from two high-volume implanting German centers. Methods: Between 2016 and 2019, 188 (of 303) patients were included. During follow-up (FU), TPS interrogation was performed after 4 weeks and thereafter every 6 months. Results: Indication for TPS implantation in 159/188 (85%) patients was permanent or intermittent AV block III° in the setting of atrial fibrillation. The mean procedure duration was 50 min [35.0–70.0]. The average acute values after system release were: thresholds: 0.5V [0.38–0.74]/0.24ms; R-wave sensing: 10.0mV [8.1–13.5]; impedance: 650 Ohm [550–783]; RV-pacing demand: 16.9% [0.9–75.9]; and battery status: 3.15 V [3.12–3.16]. During FU of 723.4 ± 597.9 days, neither pacemaker failure nor infections were reported. Long-term FU revealed: thresholds: 0.5V [0.38–0.63]/0.24 ms; sensing: 12.3mV [8.9–17.2]; impedance: 570 Ohm [488–633]; RV-pacing demand: 87.1% [29.5–98.6]; and battery status 3.02 V [3.0–3.1]. Forty-three patients died from not-device-related causes. Conclusion: This to date largest German long-term dataset for MicraVR™ TPS implantation revealed stable device parameter. Foremost, battery longevity seems to fulfill predicted values despite a significant increase in RV-pacing demand over time and even in patients with consecutive AV-node ablation. Of note, no infections or system failure were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is a promising solution to boost coverage sustainably by reflecting waves from a transmitter to a receiver and acting as a low-power and passive relay. In this paper, for the first time, we demonstrate experimentally that a reconfigurable intelligent surface designed for sub6GHz, and using varactor technology, can perform three-dimensional reflective beamforming and interference nulling. This result is achieved with a RIS prototype of 984 unit-cells, thanks to a compact control circuit individually addressing and configuring the voltage of each unit-cell, with a distinct voltage. To our knowledge, this prototype configures 17 to 70 times more distinct voltages than in the state-of-the-art. The experimental results in an indoor environment show a 10-dB gain. They also show, for the first time, that producing such a new prototype is feasible with minimal energy footprint and environmental impact, thanks to refurbishing. Indeed, a reflectarray antenna originally designed for three-dimensional beamforming has been turned into a RIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UiO-66 based materials (University of Oslo-66), with large surface area and abundant active sites, exhibit high water/solution stability due to a strong interaction between zirconium ion and the oxygen atom in carboxylate linkers. Therefore, they are potential electrode modifiers for electrochemical analysis because most of the electrochemical sensors have been used in aqueous media. In the present study, a potential electrochemical technique to detect uric acid (URA) and xanthine (XAN) is described using a Co/UiO-66 modified glassy carbon electrode. The Co/UiO-66 materials with different Co/Zr molar ratios were synthesized by hydrothermal process and were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The characterization showed a low loading and high dispersion of doped Co onto UiO-66 matrix. It was also found that the doped Co element may be grafted into the lattice of UiO-66. Co/UiO-66 exhibited better electrochemical activity toward URA and XAN detection. Under optimum conditions, 0.08Co/UiO-66/GCE demonstrated the best response compared to other material of different Co/Zr ratio, with three linear calibration ranges of 5–10 µM, 10-49.5 µM, and 49.5–327.1 µM and the limit of detection of 0.544 and 0.547 µM for URA and XAN, respectively. This proposed sensor offers a simple and low-cost pathway to quantify URA and XAN and was successfully employed to simultaneously determine URA and XAN in human urine with exceptional recoveries (97.61 to 104.79%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disengagement from care among people with HIV (PWH) and hepatitis C (HCV) increases the risks of adverse health outcomes and poses significant barriers to achieving global HIV and HCV elimination goals. In accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute framework, a scoping review was conducted to synthesize and highlight existing gaps in the literature on (dis)engagement in care among PWH and HCV. We searched for original studies on (dis)engagement in care among PWH and HCV in high-income countries using eight electronic databases from inception to May 2023. Our search yielded 4462 non-duplicated records, which were scoped to 27 studies. Definitions of (dis)engagement in care were diverse, with considerable heterogeneity in how retention was operationalized and temporally measured. Studies identified predictors of (dis)engagement to be related to drug and substance use (n = 5 articles), clinical factors (n = 5), social and welfare (n = 4), and demographic characteristics (n = 2). When engagement in care was treated as an exposure, it was associated with HCV treatment initiation (n = 3), achieving sustained virological response (n = 2), and maintaining HIV viral suppression (n = 1). Interventions to improve care engagement among PWH and HCV were limited to five studies using cash incentives (n = 1) and individual case management (n = 4). (Dis)engagement in care is a dynamic process influenced by shifting priorities that may 'tip the balance' towards or away from regularly interacting with healthcare professionals. However, inconsistent definitions render cross-study comparisons and meta-analyses virtually impossible. Further research needs to establish a standardized definition to identify patients at high risk of disengagement and develop interventions that leverage the nested HIV/HCV care cascades to retain and recover patients lost from care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrimp head by-product (SHP) has been increasingly studied for applications in bacterial fermentation and the production of secondary metabolites. In this work study, Bacillus velezensis EB.KN15 was grown via fermentation using SHP as a novel substrate on a large scale and its potential fungicidal effect against durian pathogen fungi was evaluated. SHP was found rich in protein content (29.18%) and several mineral elements suitable for EB.KN15 fermentation. The appropriate cultural medium for B. velezensis EB.KN15 growth in the small-scale fermentation using 250 mL-Erlenmeyer flask included 2% SHP/LB (7/3), 0.05% MnSO4, and 0.1% KH2PO4 at 34 °C, pH 7 for 36 h. When scaling up fermentation in a 14 L-bioreactor system, this strain exhibited better productivity (1.2 × 1012 CFU/mL) in a shorter fermentation time (only 10 h). Anti-fungal activity tests revealed for the first time, that EB.KN15 has potential fungicidal effect against Fusarium incarnatum, Phytophthora palmivora, and Fusarium solani with high inhibition values of 70%, 78.95%, and 80%, respectively. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry could identify 11 major volatiles produced by B. velezensis EB.KN15 in the supernatant. The molecular docking indicated effective interaction of these major volatiles with the target protein responsible for F. solani inhibition with good binding energy (DS ≤ 7.1 kcal/mol) and an acceptable root-mean-square deviation value (1.05–1.96 Å). This study suggests that SHP is a new substrate for the fermentation of B. velezensis EB.KN15 and recorded this strain as a novel potential candidate to effectively manage durian pathogen fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the changes in arterial wall viscoelasticity during the progression of vascular disease is crucial. Nonetheless, there has been a lack of comprehensive investigation into the assessment of viscoelastic parameters and their impact on radial wall motion. To address this gap, we analyzed the radius waveform by solving the viscoelastic constitutive equations of the standard linear model (SLM) based on a thin-wall tube assumption. Additionally, a finite element method (FEM) was applied to simulate radial wall motion for thicker walls. The analytic solution showed that a well-balanced SLM model with the time constant ( τ ε ) values smaller than 0.05 s could effectively simulate the dynamic response of radial wall motion in a human carotid artery. FEM result showed that increasing wall thickness led to a decrease in the amplitude of the radius waveform, while its effect on phase lag was marginal. To evaluate the clinical relevance of arterial wall viscoelasticity, the viscoelastic parameters of the SLM were estimated from the pressure and diameter waveforms of each patient using an optimization technique. The 105 patients were categorized according to their cardiovascular disease risk status, and statistical comparisons were made for viscoelastic parameters across the different groups. The results revealed that the high-risk group exhibited significantly higher wall elasticity than the low-risk group (p < 0.03), while the intermediate-risk group demonstrated higher wall viscosity than the low-risk group (p < 0.01). Therefore, arterial wall elasticity holds potential as a significant indicator for distinguishing between low-risk and high-risk groups, whereas viscosity shows promise as a significant indicator for distinguishing between low-risk and intermediate-risk groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles (NPs) through the reduction of copper hydroxide using ascorbic acid and then Cu2O NPs modified with triacetoxy(vinyl)silane (TVAS) (m-Cu2O) by solution method were achieved. FTIR analysis of the unmodified Cu2O NPs and m-Cu2O NPs revealed the presence of absorption characteristics corresponding to Cu–O–Si linkages in the FTIR spectra of m-Cu2O NPs, which is strong evidence that the Cu2O NPs have been successfully modified. The characteristics and properties of m-Cu2O NPs were determined and compared to those of the u-Cu2O NPs. The results indicated that the modification process had an insignificant effect on the crystal structure and morphology of Cu2O NPs. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the crystal grain size of m-Cu2O NPs slightly increased, measuring 41.04 nm compared to 38.36 nm for the u-Cu2O NPs, this change was minor. However, the m-Cu2O NPs demonstrated enhanced dispersion into acrylic emulsion polymer, resulting in improved abrasion resistance and thermal stability of the acrylic coating. In comparison with an acrylic coating filled with the u-Cu2O NPs, the coating filled with m-Cu2O NPs exhibited a 70% increase in abrasion resistance and better thermal stability. Importantly, the antibacterial performance against E. coli and S. aureus of acrylic coating filled with m-Cu2O NPs was similar to that of the u-Cu2O NPs nanocomposite coating. These findings underscore the versatility and benefits of chemical modification in enhancing specific properties of the acrylic coating without compromising antibacterial efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings on groundwater physiochemical composition and radioactivity levels in households in Bac Lieu province, Vietnam. Through discriminant analysis, it was observed that groundwater quality exhibits spatial variations corresponding to saline intrusion zones. The paired-samples T-tests revealed significantly different ratios of Ra-224, Ra-226, and Ra-228 isotopes between Na–Cl and Ca–Na–HCO3 water types. All three water types had a ratio of Ra-226/Ra-228 of approximately one, indicating the presence of groundwater aquifers beneath the crust and fluvial marine sediment. Furthermore, strong associations between sulfate and calcium suggest that CO2 enrichment in groundwater aquifers indicates anoxic aquatic environments. Twenty-five of the thirty-three evaluated samples exceeded the national technical regulations for domestic water quality with parameters such as chloride, sulfate, sodium, gross alpha, or total dissolved solids. Fifteen samples exceeded gross alpha's allowable contamination threshold of 0.1 Bq/L. The combination of Ra-226 and Ra-228 did not surpass the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit of 0.185 Bq/L. However, nineteen samples exhibited annual committed effective doses of radium isotopes for infants that exceeded the WHO recommendation of 0.1 mSv/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient use of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of new value compounds reduces our overdependence on fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels emits a greater quantity of greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change, health risks and global warming. Pyrolysis is the most efficient method to convert lignocellulosic material into solids, liquids and gaseous products through thermal decomposition. Pretreatment is considered as an efficient process that alters the structure and chemical composition of the material. The primary objective of this study is to examine the effect of acidic (H2SO4, HCl) pretreatment of Ricinus communis biomass on pyrolysis product distributions. The pretreated and non-pretreated biomass was pyrolyzed in a fixed bed reactor by changing its final reaction temperature. The highest oil output from treating biomass was achieved with H2SO4 and HCl treatments, yielding 43.1 wt% and 44.4 wt%, respectively, which were 13.42% and 16.84% higher than the yield from non-treated biomass. The products obtained through pyrolysis were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. The treated biomass stimulates the synthesis of high-energy char products and boosts the production of pyrolysis oil. The obtained pyrolysis oil had a higher heating value of up to 26.40 MJ/kg. In addition to that, the treating process effectively increased the production of aliphatic compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, composite anode structures (FOC) of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) anchored on C substrates of synthetic cellulose derived from Nypa fruticants shell was prepared successfully via chemical methods. The pre-synthesized samples were carbonized at 600 °C under N2 gas for different annealing times such as 2 h (noted as FOC_2h), 3 h (noted as FOC_3h), and 4 h (noted as FOC_4h) before used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs). The advanced investigation revealed that the quantity of the C phase and Fe3O4 NPs in the FOC materials was closely dependent on the duration of annealing time. The FOC anodes have exceptional electrochemical characteristics in LIBs, including high capacity, outstanding rate performance, and long-lasting charge/discharge capability. The FOC_3h electrode exhibits superior electrochemical performance compared to the FOC_2h and FOC_4h electrodes. The FOC_3h electrode exhibited a reversible capacity of 802.1 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1 after 35 cycles, with a retention capacity of 93.7%. The decrease in volume expansion phenomena and enhanced rate diffusion of Li+ ions during cycling in the FOC_3h composite can be attributed to the overall impacts of the nanostructures of Fe3O4 phase and C substrates. Those results demonstrated that the mentioned methods in this study could be considered as promising routes to produce advanced anodes for LIBs using recycled Nypa fruticants shell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is an uncommon neurological disorder which is characterised by variable symptoms. The transient clinical condition may be underestimated and misdiagnosed as other conditions, especially, among pregnant women with severe preeclampsia, eclampsia, and HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets) syndrome in the puerperium. We hereby contribute to the literature this rare complication and hightlight the appropriate management of PRES. Presentation case: A pregnant woman (gravida 3, parity 2) had a normal antenatal course. However, she was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome at 29 weeks and 5 days of gestation. Therefore, she was indicated for a medical termination of pregnancy following a patient's consent at our tertiary referral hospital. Severely, the patient developed rapidly with altered mental health in early puerperium. In result, PRES was diagnosed based on a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence with typical findings. After a strict multidisciplinary management, the clinical condition improved after 5 days of onset and recovered completely after a 4-month follow-up without any sequelae. Conclusion: In summary, despite its rarity, clinicians ought to be knowledgeable and raise an aware of PRES during pregnancy. Importantly, a brain imaging modalities should be taken into account among pregnant women with neurological symptoms subsequent to severe preeclampsia. In addition to early diagnosis, a timely appropriate treatment with multidisciplinary team is strongly indicated. Further studies with a large case series are required for this uncommon entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-Domain Path Computation under Node-Defined Domain Uniqueness Constraint (IDPC-NDU) is one of the routing cost optimization problems in multi-domain networks that has been proposed and received much attention by researchers. Because the IDPC-NDU is NP-Hard, the approaches using approximation algorithms are frequently used. These approximation algorithms often construct solutions based on connecting edges between adjacent domains, with little consideration of edges between non-adjacent domains. Furthermore, this study investigates how to combine an algorithm with the capability of exploration with another algorithm with the capability of exploiting in order to balance the ability to explore and exploit the search space. As a result, based on new encoding and decoding solution methods, this study proposes combinations of the algorithms Multi-start Method and Variable Neighbourhood Search Method. By considering the inter-domain edges connecting non-adjacent domains, the new encoding and decoding methods help to examine more possible paths between the source node and the destination node. The proposed algorithm is evaluated by comparing it to the most recent algorithms that were proposed to solve the IDPC-NDU. Analysis of experimental results on various instances shows that the proposed algorithm exceeds other algorithms in most of the experimental cases. In particular, one-fifth of the test cases on which the proposed algorithm finds the optimal solution. Besides, the study also analyses the influence of the attributes of the input data on the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the problem of designing event-triggered state observers for a class of nonlinear time-delay fractional-order systems. The time delay in the system is assumed to be unknown and non-differentiable but bounded within a closed interval. A novel discrete-time event-triggered fractional-order observer is first designed to provide an estimation vector for the state vector of the considered systems. It is ensured that the estimation vector robustly estimates the state vector of the nonlinear time-delay fractional-order systems. Then, a delay-dependent sufficient condition in terms of a convex optimization problem for the existence of the observer is established based on some lemmas relating to the Caputo derivative estimation of quadratic functions. Finally, three numerical examples demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new lanostane-type triterpene, uvariaol (1), was isolated from the branches of Thai Uvaria siamensis, along with three known compounds, polycarpol (2), fisetinidol (3), and stigmast-4-en-3-one (4). Their structures were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic analyses and comparison with existing literature. The α-glucosidase inhibitory potential of compounds 1–4 was evaluated. Compound 1 exhibited significant inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase, surpassing the potency of the positive control, with an IC50 value of 30.8 ± 1.5 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, a sophisticated integration of Deep Learning (DL), Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), and Fuzzy Logic (FL) is presented, aimed at enhancing agricultural water management in response to global food security challenges. The developed model, named TowaNet, integrates advanced architectures such as Long-Short Term Memory with Attention Mechanism (LSTM-ATT), Convolutional Neural Networks with Squeeze and Excitation block (CNN-SE), and Graph Convolutional Neural Networks (GCN). TowaNet was trained on data from a WSN comprising four nodes, each capturing essential agricultural parameters like air temperature, air humidity, light intensity, and soil moisture using specialized sensors. After three optimization steps were applied to each architecture, the model achieved impressive predictive performance, with Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 1.8010 and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.9005. When compared with other state-of-the-art models like LSTM-ATT, Convolutional Neural Networks combined Long-Short Term Memory with Attention Mechanism (CNN-LSTM-ATT), Random Forest (RF), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), TowaNet demonstrated superior prediction capabilities across several different datasets. The prediction data from TowaNet, processed using the MAMDANI fuzzification method, enabled precise calculation of required irrigation volumes based on environmental parameters. An experimental deployment of the TowaNet technique over a 7-day period resulted in up to a 27% reduction in water consumption compared to traditional irrigation techniques. This research highlights the effectiveness of precision irrigation in promoting sustainable water management and emphasizes the importance of tailoring irrigation to specific crop requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the MnO2 adsorbents with a crystal structure, the components of approximately 59% Mn and 40% O, and the specific linkages of -OH and O-Mn-O were characterized by the techniques XDR, EDX, and FI-IR, respectively. Especially, the individual and simultaneous adsorptions of chromium, Cr(VI), and an antibiotic, CFX, on the manganese dioxide (MnO2) material were systematically investigated. Compared with the individual adsorption, the CFX adsorption efficiency was significantly reduced in the Cr(VI) presence due to the Cr(VI)-CFX complexation formed by the Cr2O72− or HCrO4−-NH2+ electrostatic attractions. The optimal experimental conditions for the Cr(VI)-CFX simultaneous adsorption were found to be pH 6, 1 mM NaCl, 60 min contact time, and 50 mg.mL−1 MnO2 dosage. The maximum adsorption efficiencies of the Cr(VI) and the CFX on the MnO2 were achieved at 98.1 and 87.5%, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacities of the Cr(VI) and CFX were correspondingly extrapolated to be 144.5 and 100.1 mg.g−1 by the Langmuir adsorption model. The Cr(VI)-CFX simultaneous adsorption was adequately described by the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second kinetic models. The chemisorption of Cr(VI)-CFX governed the simultaneous adsorption with the formation of multiple adsorbed layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activity of occipitotemporal regions involved in linguistic reading processes, such as the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT), is believed to exhibit strong interactions during higher-order language processing, specifically in the connectivity between the occipital gyrus and the temporal gyrus. In this study, we utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with psychophysiological interaction (PPI) and dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate the functional and effective connectivity in the occipitotemporal network during speed reading. We conducted the experiment with native Japanese speakers who underwent and without speed-reading training and subsequently performed established reading tasks at different speeds (slow, medium, and fast) while undergoing 3-Tesla Siemens fMRI. Our activation analyses revealed significant changes in occipital and temporal regions as reading speed increased, indicating functional connectivity within the occipitotemporal network. DCM results further demonstrated more intricate effective connections and high involvement within the occipitotemporal pathway: (1) reading signals originated from the inferior occipital gyrus (iO), distributed to the vOT and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), and then gathered in the anterior superior temporal sulcus (aSTS); (2) reading speed loads had modulation effects on the pathways from the aSTS to vOT and from the iO to vOT. These findings highlight the complex connectivity and dynamic interactions within the occipitotemporal network during speed-reading processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]