Search Results (436)

We evaluated the long-term impacts of various forest management practices on the structure and biodiversity of Estonian hemiboreal forests, a unique ecological transition zone between temperate and boreal forests, found primarily in regions with cold winters and moderately warm summers, such as the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. The study examined 150 plots across stands of different ages (65–177 years), including commercial forests and Natura 2000 habitat 9010* “Western Taiga”. These plots varied in stand origin—multi-aged (trees of varying ages) versus even-aged (uniform tree ages), management history—historical (practices before the 1990s) and recent (post-1990s practices), and conservation status—protected forests (e.g., Natura 2000 areas) and commercial forests focused on timber production. Data on forest structure, including canopy tree diameters, deadwood volumes, and species richness, were collected alongside detailed field surveys of vascular plants and bryophytes. Management histories were assessed using historical maps and records. Statistical analyses, including General Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs), Multi-Response Permutation Procedures (MRPP), and Indicator Species Analysis (ISA), were used to evaluate the effects of origin, management history, and conservation status on forest structure and species composition. Results indicated that multi-aged origin forests had significantly higher canopy tree diameters and deadwood volumes compared to even-aged origin stands, highlighting the benefits of varied-age management for structural diversity. Historically managed forests showed increased tree species richness, but lower deadwood volumes, suggesting a biodiversity–structure trade-off. Recent management, however, negatively impacted both deadwood volume and understory diversity, reflecting short-term forestry consequences. Protected areas exhibited higher deadwood volumes and bryophyte richness compared to commercial forests, indicating a small yet persistent effect of conservation strategies in sustaining forest complexity and biodiversity. Indicator species analysis identified specific vascular plants and bryophytes as markers of long-term management impacts. These findings highlight the ecological significance of integrating historical legacies and conservation priorities into modern management to support forest resilience and biodiversity. Full article

Background/Objectives: There is a lack of empirical studies of out-of-pocket health expenditures associated with dyslipidemias, which are major cardiovascular risk factors, especially in underrepresented admixed populations. The study investigates associations of health costs with lipid traits, GWAS-derived genetic risk scores (GRSs), and other cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods: Data from the observational cross-sectional 2015 ISA-Nutrition comprised lifestyle, environmental factors, socioeconomic and demographic variables, and biochemical and genetic markers related to the occurrence of cardiometabolic diseases. GWAS-derived genetic risk scores were estimated from SNPs previously associated with lipid traits. There was phenotypic and genetic information available for 490 independent individuals, which was used as inputs for random forests and logistic regression to explain private quantitative and categorical health costs. Results: There were significant correlations between GRSs and their respective lipid phenotypes. The main relevant variables across techniques and outcome variables comprised income per capita, principal components of ancestry, diet quality, global physical activity, inflammatory and lipid markers, and LDL-c GRS and non-HDL-c GRS. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of quartile-based categorical health expenditure without GRSs was 0.76. GRSs were not significant for this categorical outcome. Conclusions: We present an original contribution to the investigation of determinants of private health expenditures in a highly admixed population, providing insights on associations between genetic and socioeconomic dimensions of health in Brazil. Ancestry information was also among the main factors contributing to health expenses, providing a novel view of the role of genetic ancestry on cardiometabolic risk factors and its potential impact on health costs. Full article

Background: The differing floret opening times between subsp. indica and subsp. japonica in rice limit the potential for increased hybrid seed production. Objectives: To elucidate the physiological basis underlying the differences in floret opening time between indica and japonica rice. Materials: A comparative analysis involved nine indica and ten japonica rice varieties. Methods: Using paraffin sectioning, transcriptome sequencing, RT-PCR, and endogenous substance quantification, we investigated the structural variations in floral organs, the differences in the initiation timing of floret opening regulatory pathways, and endogenous regulators. Results: The results indicated insignificant differences in lemma thickness, lodicule thickness, lodicule area, and the coupling-lodicule length between indica and japonica rice. However, japonica rice exhibited larger lodicule-lemma gaps and more vascular bundles compared to indica rice. Within the 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. interval, the expression of OsAOS1 in α-linolenic acid metabolism and OsISA3 in starch and sucrose metabolism notably increased in indica rice, with no significant change in japonica rice. Additionally, the endogenous JA and α-amylase surged more significantly in indica rice than in japonica rice. The increase in soluble carbohydrate in indica rice is greater than in japonica rice, but the difference is not significant. Conclusions: These findings suggest that in the process of the floret opening, the α-linolenic acid metabolism and starch and sucrose metabolism are initiated earlier in indica rice, accompanied by a more pronounced elevation in endogenous JA and α-amylase. Furthermore, the smaller lodicule-lemma gap in indica rice contributes to earlier floret opening compared to japonica rice. Full article

Acoustic management is very important for detecting possible events in the context of a smart environment (SE). In previous works, we proposed a reflective middleware for acoustic management (ReM-AM) and its autonomic cycles of data analysis tasks, along with its ontology-driven architecture. In this work, we aim to develop an emotion-recognition system for ReM-AM that uses sound events, rather than speech, as its main focus. The system is based on a sound pattern for emotion recognition and the autonomic cycle of intelligent sound analysis (ISA), defined by three tasks: variable extraction, sound data analysis, and emotion recommendation. We include a case study to test our emotion-recognition system in a simulation of a smart movie theater, with different situations taking place. The implementation and verification of the tasks show a promising performance in the case study, with 80% accuracy in sound recognition, and its general behavior shows that it can contribute to improving the well-being of the people present in the environment. Full article

This study introduces an innovative integration of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) with biomechanical principles to examine the golf swing dynamics from an ecological perspective. Traditionally, LMA focuses on the qualitative aspects of movement, often isolated from external influences. This research bridges that gap by investigating how golfers manage and adapt to the inertial forces of the club throughout the swing. Using motion tracking sensors and screw theory, we analyzed the spatial movement pattern in the Kinesphere (mapped as an icosahedron) and related it to force dynamics in the Effort Cube through the inertia tensor. The results showed significant differences between skilled and novice golfers in terms of how efficiently they align their movements with the club’s inertia. Skilled golfers demonstrated smoother Instantaneous Screw Axes (ISAs) and better synchronization with inertia forces, while novice golfers exhibited more abrupt deviations. These findings suggest that integrating qualitative movement descriptors with biomechanical models provides deeper insights into swing efficiency, performance improvement, and injury prevention. This combined framework offers a novel method to enhance both qualitative and quantitative analysis of golf swings. Full article

Background: Isavuconazole (ISA) has a favorable side effect profile that makes it attractive for treatment of invasive fungal infections (IFI). It carries FDA approval for invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis, but there are fewer data for other organisms and non-pulmonary infections. We conducted this review to investigate how ISA performed at treating IFI, with an especial interest in these non-approved indications. Methods: We retrospectively identified and reviewed 131 patients who received ISA as treatment for IFI at our institution, some of whom received ISA as their first anti-fungal therapy and others who received ISA as either step-down therapy or salvage therapy. We identified the microbiologic cause of infection as well as the anatomic site involved for each patient. We then classified patients according to their response to ISA: namely cured, partially responded, or stabilized. Results: The majority of patients were immunocompromised (n = 76, 58%). ISA was used primarily as a secondary therapy (n = 116, 89%); either as a step-down/switching from other agents, or as salvage therapy. The most common reasons for switching to ISA were toxicities with prior agents followed by QT prolongation. Although pulmonary aspergillosis and mucormycosis were represented in more than half of the cohort, ISA was also used off-label for treatment of other organisms such as endemic fungi (n = 19, 15%) as well as central nervous system (CNS) infections (n = 15, 11%). We have described the detailed clinical characteristics of these CNS infections cases. The overall clinical response rate varied by type of infection and site involved (57–73% response rate). Conclusions: We demonstrated encouraging clinical responses, particularly outside the FDA-approved indications, as well as good tolerability. This report highlights the critical need for expanded scope of prospective studies to delineate the efficacy of this better-tolerated agent, especially in central nervous system infections. Full article

This paper introduces a comprehensive risk assessment of various wide area network (WAN) technologies as applied to Operational Technology (OT) infrastructures, thus uncovering which WAN technology is best suited for OT to mitigate the risks of Denial of View (DoV), Denial of Control (DoC), and Denial of Service (DoS). A new risk weight-based evaluation approach is proposed following NIST CSF and ISA/IEC 62443 standard risk scoring (RS). In this approach, RS was modified by introducing new risk metrics, namely, risk (Rn), mitigation (Mm), risk prioritization (WRn), and mitigation prioritization (WMm) to create a specialized probability formula to assess risks on OT WAN infrastructure. The proposed formula has been implemented to automate data analysis and risk scoring across nine WAN technologies. The obtained results demonstrated that software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) has the best security features that even overshadow its vulnerabilities to perform not just as a WAN solution but as a security solution against DoV, DoC, and DoS. Furthermore, this paper identifies and highlights what to prioritize when designing and assessing an SD-WAN setup. In addition, this paper proposes an SD-WAN-based architecture to reduce DoV, DoC, and DoS risks. Full article

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects on laying performance, egg quality traits, color, and composition of supplementing a white corn-based diet with Desmodium tortuosum leaf flour. Three hundred 32-week-old hens were distributed to 30 pens of 10 hens each and allocated to six dietary treatments (five replicates per treatment) for 13 weeks. Two control groups of 50 hens received one of either diet Y, based on yellow corn, or diet W, based on white corn. The other groups received a diet based on white corn supplemented with Desmodium tortuosum leaf flour at 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, or 10% (diet D). Diet D improved laying performance and yolk color at a reduced feed cost per egg but had no effect on cholesterol content. In conclusion, the inclusion of Desmodium tortuosum leaf flour, in a white corn-based diet, is effective in lowering feed cost, increasing egg production, and improving yolk color. Full article

Background:Chlamydia trachomatis is the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted pathogen in humans worldwide. Since chlamydial infection is largely asymptomatic with the potential for serious complications, a preventative vaccine is likely the most viable long-term answer to this public health threat. Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) utilizes the cellular protein manufacturing machinery decoupled from the requirement for maintaining cellular viability, offering the potential for flexible, rapid, and decentralized production of recombinant protein vaccine antigens. Methods: Here, we use CFPS to produce the full-length putative chlamydial type three secretion system (T3SS) needle-tip protein, CT584, for evaluation as a vaccine antigen in mouse models. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) (RIBM, Tsukuba, Japan) imaging and computer simulations confirm that CFPS-produced CT584 retains a native-like structure prior to immunization. Female mice were primed with CT584 adjuvanted with CpG-1826 intranasally (i.n.) or CpG-1826 + Montanide ISA 720 intramuscularly (i.m.), followed four weeks later by an i.m. boost before respiratory challenge with 10⁴ inclusion forming units (IFU) of Chlamydia muridarum. Results: Immunization with CT584 generated robust antibody responses but weak cell-mediated immunity and failed to protect against i.n. challenge as demonstrated by body weight loss, increased lung weights, and the presence of high numbers of IFUs in the lungs. Conclusion: While CT584 was not a protective vaccine candidate, the speed and flexibility with which CFPS can be used to produce other potential chlamydial antigens make it an attractive technique for antigen production. Full article

Background/Objectives: Meditation induces changes in the nervous system, which presumably underpin positive psychological and physiological effects. Such neural changes include alterations in the arousal fluctuation, as well as in infraslow brain activity (ISA, <0.1 Hz). Furthermore, it is known that fluctuations of arousal over time correlate with the oscillatory phase of ISA. However, whether this arousal–ISA correlation changes after meditation practices remains unanswered.; Methods: The present study aims to address this question by analyzing a publicly available electroencephalogram (EEG) dataset recorded during meditation sessions in the groups of experienced meditators and novices. The arousal fluctuation is measured by galvanic skin responses (GSR), and arousal–ISA correlations are measured by phase synchronization between GSR and EEG ISAs.; Results: While both groups exhibit arousal–ISA correlations, experienced meditators display higher correlations than novices. These increased arousal–ISA correlations in experienced meditators manifest more clearly when oscillatory phase differences between GSR and EEG ISAs are either 0 or π radians. As such, we further investigate the characteristics of these phase differences with respect to spatial distribution over the brain. We found that brain regions with the phase difference of either 0 or π radians form distinct spatial clusters, and that these clusters are spatially correlated with functional organization estimated by the principal gradient, based on functional connectivity.; Conclusions: Since increased arousal–ISA correlations reflect enhanced global organization of the central and autonomic nervous systems, our findings imply that the positive effects of meditation might be mediated by enhanced global organization of the nervous system. Full article

For a finite field GF(pL) with prime p and L>1, one of the standard representations is L×L matrices over GF(p) so that the arithmetic of GF(pL) can be realized by the arithmetic among these matrices over GF(p). Based on the matrix representation of GF(pL), a conventional linear network coding scheme over GF(pL) can be transformed to an L-dimensional vector LNC scheme over GF(p). Recently, a few real implementations of coding schemes over GF(2L), such as the Reed–Solomon (RS) codes in the ISA-L library and the Cauchy-RS codes in the Longhair library, are built upon the classical result to achieve matrix representation, which focuses more on the structure of every individual matrix but does not shed light on the inherent correlation among matrices which corresponds to different elements. In this paper, we first generalize this classical result from over GF(2L) to over GF(pL) and paraphrase it from the perspective of matrices with different powers to make the inherent correlation among these matrices more transparent. Moreover, motivated by this correlation, we can devise a lookup table to pre-store the matrix representation with a smaller size than the one utilized in current implementations. In addition, this correlation also implies useful theoretical results which can be adopted to further demonstrate the advantages of binary matrix representation in vector LNC. In the following part of this paper, we focus on the study of vector LNC and investigate the applications of matrix representation related to the aspects of random and deterministic vector LNC. Full article

In practical applications, steel single angles are often subjected to eccentric loading when connected to a gusset plate through one leg only, resulting in complex compression behaviour. This behaviour has not been as extensively studied as that of concentrically loaded members. Various international codes of practice offer differed approaches for designing these elements. The literature indicates that the Indian Standard Code IS 800–2007 accurately predicts the axial capacity of eccentrically loaded single angle columns. However, a recent amendment to IS 800 in 2024 introduced modified design provisions. This study is the first to explore the implications of these latest design provisions by comparing them with earlier provisions and experimental strengths reported in the literature. Initially, the design strengths as per the previous and latest design provisions for various Indian Standard Angles (ISA) were presented and compared accounting for varying slenderness ratio, plate slenderness ratio (b/t), and different types of end connections and restraints. The findings reveal that the latest design provisions generally result in much higher design strengths compared to the earlier provisions, with a maximum increase of 104.84%. Upon noticing the significant variation, this study is further extended to compare with the reported data available in the literature. The nominal strengths calculated using the latest provisions were often higher than the strengths reported in the literature considered in this study, indicating potential unsafe design. Full article

This study examines the dietary effect of dried olive pulp (OP) on the overall performance, egg quality, health, and gut microbiota of laying hens during a 36-week trial. A total of 180 Isa Brown layers, aged 23 weeks, were assigned to 15-floor pens and divided into three feeding groups (CON, OP4, and OP6) based on the dietary level of OP. Egg quality and biochemical parameters were assessed in 39- and 59-week-old hens. Fecal samples were collected for microbiota analysis. Data were analyzed with an Analysis of Variance. The percentage of broken eggshells was found to be 15–34% lower in the OP groups compared to the CON groups. At 59 weeks of age, a significant reduction in shell thickness was observed in the CON eggs compared to the OP eggs (p < 0.05). At 39 weeks of age, OP6 eggs had the darkest yolk color of all groups (p < 0.05). Fecal microbial diversity was affected only by hens’ age. However, an enrichment in bacterial species belonging to the genera Megasphaera and Megamonas was found in the OP groups at 59 weeks of age. Our results demonstrate that OP feeding beneficially affects egg quality and promotes the proliferation of bacteria involved in the degradation of complex plant compounds, potentially contributing to the overall health of the gut microbiota. Full article

Aiming at the problem of current flexible integrated scheduling, most of the current research shortens the total processing time of products and ignores the loss of the equipment in the processing, which affects the scheduling ability of the equipment; in this context, a flexible integrated scheduling algorithm considering periodic maintenance (FIS-PM) is proposed. The algorithm flexibly mobilizes the processing sequence of the selected processing equipment, and uniformly maintains all equipment at a certain time. First, the ISA-PM algorithm adopts the strategy combination of the layer priority, the short-time, and the equipment priority strategy to schedule the operations. Then, based on the forest firefighting model, the maintenance start point and duration of the equipment are determined by the relationship between the number of the processed operations and the number of the unprocessed operations and the loss of equipment during the maintenance. Finally, the dynamic adjustment strategy is adopted, which not only realizes the maintenance of the equipment, but also reduces the makespan of the products. The experimental results show that the proposed ISA-PM algorithm realizes the optimization effect of reducing the makespan of complex products, completing the maintenance, and improving the overall utilization rate of equipment systems. Full article

Sustainability assurance (SA), an independent third-party evaluation aimed at enhancing the credibility of corporate sustainability disclosure, plays a vital role in fostering corporate green transformation. This paper systematically examines the impact of SA on corporate green transformation and the mechanisms through which it operates, using data on SA reports and green patents from A-share listed companies in China between 2010 and 2022. The findings reveal that SA significantly promotes corporate green transformation, particularly when conducted in accordance with standard ISAE 3000. Mechanism analysis indicates that SA facilitates green transformation by reducing the cost of credit and promoting risk-taking behaviors. Heterogeneity analysis further demonstrates that the positive effects of SA on green transformation are more pronounced in heavily polluting and competitive industries as well as in firms with weaker internal and external governance. This study not only underscores the beneficial impact and underlying mechanisms of SA on corporate green transformation but also contributes to the broader literature on the drivers of corporate green transformation. Full article