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  • Jiang Teague posted an update 6 days, 5 hours ago

    Although increasing poultry density was associated with increasing risk, this was only the case in the absence of wild waterfowl habitat, and only at a local scale. In landscapes increasingly shared between wild waterfowl and poultry, suitability was greater among lower density poultry, again at a local scale only. These findings provide further insight into the occurrence of HPAI H5N1 in India and suggest important landscape targets for blocking the waterfowl-poultry interface to interrupt virus transmission and prevent future outbreaks.The Atlas Pistachio tree, Pistacia atlantica Desf., has great importance in the ecological landscape of North Africa, due to its adaptive plasticity, as well as its use as a rootstock in the cultivation of the economically important species, Pistacia vera L. The conservation and valuation of this species require sampling and an assessment of its genetic variability. For the first time in North Africa, the inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) molecular marker has been used in genetic-diversity assessment and in the population relationships of P. atlantica subsp. atlantica. The ISSR markers tested showed 74.1% polymorphism, while molecular variance (AMOVA) analysis revealed a high percentage of the total genetic diversity of 55.7% among the four populations studied. Cluster analysis with neighbor-joining (NJ) and principal coordinate analysis (PCO) divided the study sites into four distinct groups according to their geographical locations (Tiaret, Batna, Djelfa, and Bechar). Isolation by distance or Mantel test gave a positive correlation of r = 0.86 between geographical and genetic distances. The results in this study indicate an absence of gene flow, implying that conservation efforts should be taken separately for each population.A human skin equivalent (HSE) composed of the epidermis and dermis is cultured using a pumpless skin-on-a-chip system to supply cultures the desired flow rate using gravity flow without a pump or an external tube connection. Coenzyme Q10 efficacy is tested by adjusting its concentration, as it is known to have anti-aging and antioxidant effects in culture solutions. The relationship between the contraction rate of a full-thickness human skin equivalent and secreted transforming growth factor (TGF) β-1 is analyzed via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Following hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, an image of the skin equivalent is analyzed to measure the epidermal layer’s thickness. The cell density and differentiation of the dermis layer are investigated. Gene and protein expression in the dermal and epidermal layers are quantitatively analyzed using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunohistochemical staining. As the coenzyme Q10 treatment concentration increased, the number of cells per unit area and the thickness of the epidermal layer increased, the expression level of filaggrin increased, and the contraction rate of full-thickness HSE was proportional to the amount of TGF β-1 secreted.Introduction of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) to poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) aims to improve the mechanical, microbiological and tribological properties of dental prosthesis bases. The aim of the research was to assess the polymerisation time and the change in the colour of the new biomaterial. Samples with the 1 wt% and 2 wt% content of TiO2 additionally modified by ultrasounds were created. The effectiveness of ultrasounds was assessed by comparing the average size of conglomerates in a liquid acrylic resin monomer by means of a dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis. The biomaterial structure was assessed by the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The colour change was analysed by means of a colorimetric test and provided in the CIE (Commission internationale de l’éclairage) L*a*b* and RGB (Red Green Blue) colour palette. It was observed during the DLS test that the ultrasonic homogenisation process caused an increase in the suspension heterogeneity. The EDS analysis confirmed the presence of nanoparticles sized below 100 nm, which constitutes a ground for calling the new biomaterial a nanocomposite. The addition of TiO2 NPs as well as the ultrasounds result in the reduction of the average PMMA polymerisation time. The obtained data reveal that the addition of both 1 wt% and 2 wt% causes a considerable change in the PMMA colour its whitening. To summarise, the reduced polymerisation time of the new biomaterial fully enables performance of standard procedures related to creation of dental prosthesis bases. Due to the considerable change in the colour, the clinical application is limited to performance of repairs or relining of the prosthesis, where the new material is located in an unaesthetic zone.This paper presents experimental, theoretical and numerical studies of wood-CFRP beams bonded with polyurethane (PUR) adhesive. The analyses include two types of CFRP (carbon fibre-reinforced polymer) strengthening configurations and pure glue laminated timber beams as a reference. Through detailed analyses of a double-lap connection on blocks with and without CFRP strips, the authors state that neglecting the cohesive stiffness of adhesive layers may lead to an overestimation of an overall beam’s stiffness. This is significant with wood-CFRP connections, which showed values two times lower than with wood-wood connections. Theoretical modelling of the equivalent area used in a theory of composites provided much stiffer behaviour of the beams than in laboratory experiments. It proves that a PUR glue eliminates the possibility of using simple models that assume a perfect connection between bonded parts. #link# These conclusions led the authors to use the finite element method (FEM) to take into account the cohesive stiffness. The FEM, based on the properties obtained from a double-lap joint analysis, allowed for the precise prediction of the elastic stiffness of the beams.Seismically pre-qualified beam-to-column joints guarantee large ductility in seismic scenarios thanks to the effectiveness of the design rules and technological requirements that are devoted to avoiding the failure of brittle components (i.e., bolts and welds). However, their performance under different severe actions like those induced by fire has not been properly investigated. Therefore, a parametric study based on finite element simulations has been carried out with the aim to verify the effectiveness of local details of seismically prequalified joints under fire. link2 Finite element analyses were carried out on beam-to-column assemblies sub-structured from a reference archetype building accounting for both material and geometrical imperfections. The bolts’ internal actions were monitored in all the investigated specimens varying the applied vertical loads. The results show that the seismic design rules adopted to size the bolts are effective to resist the large increase in shear forces in the bolts occurring under fire. Thus, the investigated joints provide satisfactory ductility and rotation capacity at high temperature preventing the failure of bolts; further analysis could be conducted to investigated the fire performance of the investigated joints in a seismic scenario.Fault diagnosis methods based on deep learning and big data have achieved good results on rotating machinery. link3 However, the conventional deep learning method of bearing fault diagnosis is mostly based on laboratory artificial simulation data, and there is an error with actual fault data, which will reduce the generalization performance of the deep learning method. In addition, labeled data are very precious in real industrial environment. Due to expensive equipment and personnel safety issues, it is difficult to obtain a large amount of high-quality fault labeling data. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a metric-based meta-learning method named Reinforce Relation Network (RRN) for diagnosing bearing faults with few-shot samples. In the proposed method, a 1D convolution neural network is used to extract fault features, and a metric learner is used to predict the similarity between samples under different transfer conditions. Label smoothing and the Adabound algorithm are utilized to further improve the performance of network classification. The performance of the proposed method is verified on a dataset which contains artificial damage and natural damage data. The comparison studies with other methods demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in the few-shot scenario.EXAFS spectroscopy is one of the most used techniques to solve the structure of actinoid solutions. In this work a systematic analysis of the EXAFS spectra of four actinyl cations, [UO2]2+, [NpO2]2+, [NpO2]+ and [PuO2]2+ has been carried out by comparing experimental results with theoretical spectra. These were obtained by averaging individual contributions from snapshots taken from classical Molecular Dynamics simulations which employed a recently developed [AnO2]2+/+ -H2O force field based on the hydrated ion model using a quantum-mechanical (B3LYP) potential energy surface. Analysis of the complex EXAFS signal shows that both An-Oyl and An-OW single scattering paths as well as multiple scattering ones involving [AnO2]+/2+ molecular cation and first-shell water molecules are mixed up all together to produce a very complex signal. Simulated EXAFS from the B3LYP force field are in reasonable agreement for some of the cases studied, although the k= 6-8 Å-1 region is hard to be reproduced theoretically. Except ng the a priori guess that the inclusion of dynamic and static correlation refine the structural description of the open-shell actinyl aqua ions.Since tumor-specific T cells were first utilized to treat melanoma patients in 1986 […].The increase in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission cases poses a serious public health concern. Although several previous studies have been conducted with the aim of identifying the risk factors for HIV transmission, the number of cases has been increasing, especially in youth. The present study is aimed at the identification of personal and lifestyle determinants of HIV transmission risk in a sample of 335 Spanish university students selected by convenience sampling from a public university located in Alicante (Spain). G418 datasheet , lifestyles, and variables of HIV risk of transmission were evaluated. Group differences on risk of HIV transmission were evaluated between participants depending on their sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, relationship status, employment status, economic status, and sexual orientation) and lifestyle (diet, physical exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, and stress). Linear regression models were conducted in order to identify those personal and nted toward the increase in the adherence to healthy lifestyles and HIV prevention.Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major complication of sepsis that induces acid-base imbalances. While creatinine levels are the only indicator for assessing the prognosis of AKI, prognostic importance of metabolic acidosis is unknown. We conducted a retrospective observational study by analyzing a large China-based pediatric critical care database from 2010 to 2018. Participants were critically ill children with AKI admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). The study included 1505 children admitted to ICUs with AKI, including 827 males and 678 females. The median age at ICU admission was 22 months (interquartile range 7-65). After a median follow-up of 10.87 days, 4.3% (65 patients) died. After adjusting for confounding factors, hyperlactatemia, low pH, and low bicarbonate levels were independently associated with 28-day mortality (respective odds ratio 3.06, 2.77, 2.09; p values less then 0.01, less then 0.01, less then 0.01). The infection had no interaction with the three parameters. The AKI stage negatively interacted with bicarbonate and pH but not lactate.