Search

Although 3D EPI is more susceptible to motion artifacts than 2D EPI, it presents some benefits for functional MRI, including the absence of spin-history artifacts, greater potential for parallel imaging acceleration, and better functional sensitivity in high-resolution imaging. Here we present a self-navigated 3D-EPI sequence suitable for prospective motion-corrected functional MRI without additional hardware or pulses.For each volume acquisition, the first 24 of the 52 partitions being acquired are accumulated to a new feedback block that was added to the image reconstruction pipeline. After zero-filling the remaining partitions, the feedback block constructs a volumetric self-navigator (vSNav), co-registers it to the reference vSNav acquired during the first volume acquisition, and sends motion estimates to the sequence. The sequence then updates its FOV and acquires subsequent partitions with the adjusted FOV, until the next update is received. The sequence was validated without and with intentional motion in phantom and in vivo on a 3T Skyra.For phantom scans, the FOV was updated 0.704 s after acquisition of the vSNav partitions, and for in vivo scans after 0.768 s. Both phantom and in vivo data demonstrated stable motion estimates in the absence of motion. For in vivo acquisitions, prospective head-pose estimates using the vSNav's and retrospective estimates with FLIRT (FMRIB's Linear Image Registration Tool) agreed to within 0.23 mm ( 10% of the slice thickness) and 0.14° in all directions.Depending when motion occurs during a volume acquisition, the proposed method fully corrects the FOV and recovers image quality within one volume acquisition.

To improve enzyme stability, the immobilization process is often applied. The choice of a support on which the enzymes are adsorbed plays a major role in enhancing biocatalysts’ properties. In this study, bio-based (i.e., chitosan, coffee grounds) and synthetic (i.e., Lewatit VP OC 1600) supports were used in the immobilization of lipases of various microbial origins (yeast (Yarrowia lipolytica) and mold (Aspergillus oryzae)). The results confirmed that the enzyme proteins had been adsorbed on the surface of the selected carriers, but not all of them revealed comparably high catalytic activity. Immobilized CALB (Novozym 435) was used as a commercial reference biocatalyst. The best hydrolytic activity (higher than that of CALB) was observed for Novozym 51032 (lipase solution of A. oryzae) immobilized on Lewatit VP OC 1600. In terms of synthetic activity, there were only slight differences between the applied carriers for A. oryzae lipase, and the highest measures were obtained for coffee grounds. All of the biocatalysts had significantly lower activity in the synthesis reactions than the reference catalyst.

Titanium dioxide (TiOUV-Vis absorption spectroscopy allowed us to investigate the pigment purity and determined the polymorph form in pigments. FTIR was employed to identify functional groups present in the samples with the modified surface. XRD, DLS , TEM and DCS were applied to characterize particle size and morphology. The experiment of ED-XRF method was used to determine the elemental composition of pigments that differ in their behavior in a cosmetic formulation.UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to detect organic pollutants in particular batches, which were not detected in the cases of the tested samples. Solid UV-Vis spectroscopy and XRD revealed which crystalline form of TiOOur data indicate how we can recognize poorly coated pigments in raw material. The results show that ED-XRF method is nondestructive, effective and fast, hence, can be successfully introduced into preproduction pigment control in cosmetic industry.

PURPOSE: This study aims at synthesising the impact of the human factor on the occurrence of statistical anomalies in the distribution of the incidence of royalty rates in license contracts. As a research basis for our study we have used the results of two empirical studies on royalty rates in contracts., DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The methods used to value intangible rights for licensing purposes should theoretically ensure objectivity. As a result, the analysis of statistical data on the frequency of royalty percentages should provide information on the profitability of licensing specific rights, both in the industry studied and in the economy as a whole. However, statistics of actual royalty rates show an above-average use of some percentage rates (e.g., 5%, 10%) against a relatively low representation of others., FINDINGS: This paper points to the human factor as the cause of the anomalies found. This influence manifests itself in arbitrary decision-making without economic justification in the valuation process, as well as in the negotiation of royalty rates. The arbitrariness of valuation experts and negotiators, as indicated in the paper, manifests itself primarily in a tendency to round up and rely on numerical schemes., PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The research we have carried out can contribute to analyses covering the broad spectrum of human factor influences in the royalty valuation and negotiation process., ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Analysis of the fee for services on statistical anomalies in determining Royalty Rates. The human factor was indicated as the source of these anomalies., peer-reviewed

The Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds of the first century were not friendly environments for women. Women had few rights and rarely participated in public life, with their well-being largely dependent on male family members. The Christian message, outlined in the New Testament, was not just the beginning of a religious revolution but it also planted the seeds of a social revolution, which is yet to be completed. This paper contrasts the predominant worldview of the first century AD with the revolutionary message of New Testament Christianity regarding the role and status of women in the Christian Church.

PURPOSE: This paper synthesises the current state of the Polish power engineering sector, the process of developing nuclear power plants (henceforth, “NPPs”) and the primary preconditions to consider when formulating contracts for NPP construction projects., DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: In consideration of future economic growth of the country and its energy security, in 2005 the central government decided to start building NPPs in Poland. However, it was only at the end of 2022 that letters of intent were signed with two contractors for NPP construction (Westinghouse of the USA Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power of South Korea)., FINDINGS: The critical conclusions from this paper follow: Poland is stricken by a high degree of decapitalisation of assets in the power engineering sector. Legacy power plants do not only pose a high risk of high failure rates, their performance efficiency is low, which drives the costs and, ultimately, the pricing of electrical power. The Polish government assumes the following breakdown of shares and funding for the NPP projects: 51% with the State Treasury and 49% with a foreign developer., PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The positive effects on the economy from the construction of NPPs will be achieved if the contracts for NPP projects are properly formulated – limiting the risks that the project developers will want to pass on to the Polish public in the contracts. It will be especially important to establish in the NPP project contracts the conditions that contribute to an increase of NPP construction, protraction of implementation time, and the precise procedure for the NPP construction driving the price of electrical power., peer-reviewed

This book explores the close, complex and consequential – yet to a large extent implicit – relationship between international law and time. There is a conspicuous discrepancy between international law’s technical preoccupation with the mechanics of temporal rules and the absence of more foundational considerations of how time – both as an irrepressible physical dimension manifesting in the passage of time, and as a social construct shaped by diverse social and cultural factors – impacts and interacts with international law. Divided into five parts and 21 chapters, this book explores key aspects of the relationship between international law and time and puts the spotlight on time’s fundamental significance for international law as a legal order and as a discipline. Pursuing diverse approaches to international law, the authors consider the notion, significance, manifestations, uses and implications of time in international law in a wide range of contexts, and offer insights into the various ways in which international law and international lawyers cope with time, both in terms of constructing narratives and in devising and employing particular legal techniques.

This book explores the close, complex and consequential – yet to a large extent implicit – relationship between international law and time. There is a conspicuous discrepancy between international law’s technical preoccupation with the mechanics of temporal rules and the absence of more foundational considerations of how time – both as an irrepressible physical dimension manifesting in the passage of time, and as a social construct shaped by diverse social and cultural factors – impacts and interacts with international law. Divided into five parts and 21 chapters, this book explores key aspects of the relationship between international law and time and puts the spotlight on time’s fundamental significance for international law as a legal order and as a discipline. Pursuing diverse approaches to international law, the authors consider the notion, significance, manifestations, uses and implications of time in international law in a wide range of contexts, and offer insights into the various ways in which international law and international lawyers cope with time, both in terms of constructing narratives and in devising and employing particular legal techniques.

Although time forms a part of the very bedrock of international law as a legal order and fundamentally determines international law as a discipline, the relationship between time and international law has received only limited attention. To most international lawyers, time appears as simply a technical problem, and mainstream international law doctrine presents international law as essentially atemporal. However, such attitudes obscure the complex temporalities involved in international law and the choices that have underpinned them. Time in international law is profoundly multifaceted, and there is a significant intra-disciplinary diversity in the understanding of the relationship between international law and time. Nevertheless, international law and international lawyers may be said to primarily cope and engage with time in two main—albeit intertwined—ways: through the construction of narratives and through the development of legal techniques.

The dogma of probiotic strain-specificity is widely accepted. However, only the genus- and species-specific effects of probiotics are supported by evidence from clinical trials. The aim of this rapid review was to assess clinical evidence supporting the claim that the efficacy of probiotics in the pediatric population is strain-specific.The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases were searched (up to August 2022) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in children aged 0-18 years evaluating the effects of prophylactic or therapeutic administration of probiotics (well-characterized at the strain level) for conditions such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea, acute diarrhea, necrotizing enterocolitis, respiratory tract infections, Helicobacter pylori infection, and atopic dermatitis. To allow evaluation of strain-specificity, a trial could only be included in the review if at least one additional RCT assessed the effect of a different strain of the same species against the same comparator. RCTs without proper strain-level data were excluded. In the absence of identifying head-to-head strain vs. strain RCTs, indirect comparisons were made between interventions.Twenty-three RCTs were eligible for inclusion. Out of the 11 performed comparisons, with one exception (two L. paracasei strains in reducing atopic dermatitis symptoms), no significant differences between the clinical effects of different strains of the same probiotic species were found.Head-to-head comparison is an optimal study design to compare probiotic strains, but such comparisons are lacking. Based on indirect comparisons, this rapid review demonstrates insufficient clinical evidence to support or refute the claim that probiotic effects in children are strain-specific.

This review focuses on the enzymatic breakdown of chitin, taking into account the latest scientific reports on the activity of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO). Chitin is a natural, abundant polysaccharide of great practical importance in the environment. However, the insolubility in water and the tightly packed crystalline structure of chitin pose a serious obstacle to enzymatic degradation. This substrate can be converted into soluble sugars by the action of glycosidic hydrolases (GH), also known as chitinases. LPMO could prove to be helpful in enzymatic processes that increase the rate of chitin depolymerisation by improving the availability of substrates for chitinases. The unique action of LPMO is based on the ability to catalyse the oxidative cleavage of glycosidic chains present in complex, resistant crystal networks of chitin, and this cleavage facilitates the subsequent action of glycolytic hydrolases.

[EN] Over the last five decades, Italy has invested in the construction of public works as the core strategy to dynamize its less favoured regions; however, due to multiple and inherent dysfunctionalities, many of these remain half-built and abandoned today. The group of artists Alterazioni Video refer to this phenomenon as “Incompiuto” (“Incompletion” in English), coining a name for a new architectural style where the characteristic unfinished materiality speaks back to Italian idiosyncrasy. In the pursuit of existential dignity, Alterazioni Video suggest that these sites muster and reassemble metaphysical places of contemplation, thought and the imaginary. Drifting at one of its most spectacular samples (The Dam of Blufi, Sicily), the present collaboration between an architect and a writer testifies to said assertion, and celebrates the phenomenological qualities of modern ruination argued in emerging geographical literatures., [ES] Durante las pasadas cinco décadas, Italia ha hecho inversiones en la construcción de obras públicas como estrategia central para dinamizar sus regiones menos favorecidas; sin embargo, debido a múltiples e inherentes disfuncionalidades, muchas de esas regiones siguen hoy a medio construir o abandonadas. El grupo de artistas Video Alterazioni se refiere a este fenómeno como lo “Incompiuto” (“lo incompleto”, en español), acuñando así un nombre para designar un nuevo estilo arquitectónico donde la materialidad inconclusa característica reconviene la idiosincrasia italiana. En busca de la dignidad existencial, los de Video Alterazioni sugieren que esos sitios reúnen y reensamblan lugares metafísicos de contemplación, pensamiento y de lo imaginario. Desplazándose hacia una de las muestras más espectaculares (la Represa de Blufi, Sicilia), la presente colaboración entre un arquitecto y un escritor da fe de aquella afirmación, y celebra las cualidades fenomenológicas de la ruina moderna que se argumentan en las emergentes literaturas geográficas., [ZH] 过去五十年中 做为振兴欠发达地区的核心战略意大利对公共工程建设进行了投入。然而由于诸多固有的机制阻碍许多工程至今仍处于烂尾和废弃状态。Alterazioni Video的艺术家们为这种新的建筑风格创造了一个名词 “不完整”。这些建筑独特的未完成物质性也反映了意大利的特色。在追求生存尊严的过程中, Alterazioni Video认为这些建筑集中和重组了各种冥想、思想和假想的形而上学场所。针对最壮观的一个实例 西西里Blufi大坝 一位建筑师和一位作家之间的合作证明了上述观点并赞赏了近来地理文献中出现的现代毁灭的卓越本质。, The fieldwork conducted for this research took place while Pablo Arboleda was a doctoral candidate funded by the scholarship “Thüringer Graduiertenförderung,” granted by Bauhaus-University Weimar (Germany). The materialization of the present contribution has unfolded while Pablo Arboleda was a post-doc at the University of Glasgow, funded by the Urban Studies Foundation.