This study conducted a thorough investigation into the impact of two emulsification techniques, namely high-pressure homogenization (HPH) and microfluidization (MF), on the emulsification of krill oil. The comprehensive analysis encompassed various aspects, including particle size characterization, structural assessment, oxidative stability evaluation during storage, measurement of bioaccessibility, and in vitro simulated digestion analysis. Emulsions produced through MF exhibited several noteworthy advantages over those generated by HPH. Most prominently, MF-prepared emulsions featured smaller and more uniformly distributed particles, in stark contrast to the less uniform particles generated by HPH. Moreover, MF-based emulsions demonstrated significantly enhanced oxidative stability during storage, with astaxanthin degradation occurring at a substantially lower rate (38.11% for HPH compared to 89.44% for MF). When assessing emulsion behavior during in vitro simulated digestion, microfluidization formulations exhibited superior stability and markedly higher bioaccessibility in comparison to their HPH counterparts. Of particular significance was the remarkable increase in the release of free fatty acids observed during the intestinal phase of digestion in MF emulsions, indicating an improved lipid digestion process. This study firmly establishes microfluidization as the superior method for crafting emulsions of krill oil, especially within the context of the food industry. Microfluidization not only ensures the preservation of oil quality during storage but also significantly enhances emulsion stability and promotes improved digestibility. These findings hold substantial promise for the development of delivery systems for n-3 fatty acids, making them suitable for incorporation into a wide range of commercial food, beverage, and pharmaceutical products.

Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters [FAME]) is a renewable biomass-based diesel (BBD) fuel made from plant oils, animal fats and waste greases. Its production continues to increase globally, especially with more countries moving to increase the use of renewable fuels. One of the main disadvantages of biodiesel is its relatively poor oxidative stability. During longer periods of storage at fuel terminals or in vehicle tanks and fuel systems, biodiesel can react with oxygen in ambient air, leading to degradation that can adversely affect its viscosity and ignition quality. The shelf-life of biodiesel is an important property that can determine the conditions such as how long it can be stored at low temperatures. The objective of this work is to develop mathematical equations to estimating the shelf-life of biodiesel at T = 25 °C. This was done by measuring the induction period by Rancimat instrument (IP R) at different temperatures and extrapolating the results using two types of linear models. Model equations were developed from regression analysis performed on results for canola, palm and soybean oil-FAME (CaME, PME and SME), methyl oleate (MeC18:1) and methyl linoleate (MeC18:2). The best results from confirmation analysis were obtained for Model B type equations. This model type correlated ln(IP R) with inverse T (T −1) data and provided the most realistic estimates of the shelf-life (SL B) of the five FAME studied in this work.

1. While territoriality is one of the key mechanisms influencing carnivore space use, most studies quantify resource selection and movement in the absence of conspecific influence or territorial structure without inference on resource selection processes. 2. Our analysis incorporated intra-specific competition in a resource selection framework, via territorial data of conspecifics, to investigate mechanisms of territoriality and to better understand the role of neighboring packs on African wild dog habitat selection. We fit integrated step selection functions to 3-hour GPS data from 12 collared wild dog packs in the Okavango Delta, and estimated selection coefficients using a conditional Poisson likelihood with random effects. 3. Packs selected for the outline of their neighbors’ 30-day boundary (defined as their 90% kernel density estimate), and for the outline of their own 90-day core (defined as their 50% kernel density estimate). Neighbors’ 30-day boundary had a greater influence on resource selection than any habitat feature. Habitat selection differed when they were within versus beyond their neighbors’ 30-day boundary. 4. Pack size, pack age, pup presence, and seasonality all mediated how packs responded to neighbors, and seasonal dynamics altered the strength of residency. While newly-formed packs and packs with pups avoided their neighbors’ boundary, older packs and those without pups selected for it. Packs also selected for the boundary of larger neighboring packs more strongly than that of smaller ones. 5. Social structure within packs has implications for how they interact with conspecifics, and therefore how they are distributed across the landscape. Future research should continue to investigate how territorial processes are mediated by social dynamics and, in turn, how territorial structure mediates resource selection and movement. These results could inform the development of a human-wildlife conflict (HWC) mitigation tool by co-opting the mechanisms of conspecific interactions to manage space use of endangered carnivores.

IntroductionInternational continence society defined mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) as “complaint of involuntary loss of urine associated with urgency and also with effort or physical exertion or on sneezing or coughing”., which include both urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) complaints. Urinary incontinence affects social behaviors, financial burden such as using class of drugs, rehabilitation floor muscles, and psychological suffering such as dissatisfaction in sexual activity. Diagnosis of urinary incontinence is based on history, physical examinations and supplemental evaluations like dye test, cystoscopy, urodynamic study, urine analysis, urine culture, and imaging technics. (1)At the first, conservative treatments are performed for patient such as biofeedback, pelvic floor muscle exercise, electrical stimulation and drug treatment. In the second step of treatment, surgery is considered. The surgery is usually used to address the failure of normal anatomic support of the bladder neck and proximal urethra, and intrinsic sphincter deficiency, meanwhile its implementation should be approached with caution for carefully. In some cases, surgery intervention also failed and other novel interventions should be considered. (2)Platelet rich fibrin glue, stem cells, butolonium toxins and TVT separately applied for treatment of patients, but this is the first time that these mixed modalities were used for the treatment of mixed urinary incontinence which did not respond to pharmaceutical and surgical treatment.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) on pain control during pterygomandibular puncture. A patient received anesthesia on both sides of the mouth in a randomized manner. On the right side, an 808nm infrared low-level laser was applied before local anesthesia. On the left side, a sham laser was applied using the same technique. There was a 50% reduction in pain levels on the PBM-treated side compared to the sham PBM side, as measured by the visual analog scale. Sensitivity tests revealed that anesthesia was more effective on the PBM side. There was no significant difference in blood pressure before and after anesthesia on either side. While these findings are based on a single case report, they suggest that photobiomodulation before anesthesia may alleviate puncture pain associated with anesthesia. Nevertheless, further well-designed clinical trials are necessary to confirm the effectiveness of this complementary therapy.

The study of microbiomes across organisms and environments has become a prominent focus in molecular ecology. This perspective article explores methodological advancements, common challenges and future directions in the field. Key research areas include understanding the drivers of microbiome community assembly, linking microbiome composition to host genetics, exploring microbial functions, transience, and spatial partitioning, and disentangling non-bacterial components of the microbiome. Methodological advancements, such as quantifying absolute abundances, sequencing complete genomes, and utilizing novel statistical approaches, are also useful tools for understanding complex microbial diversity patterns. Our aims are to encourage robust practices in microbiome studies and inspire researchers to explore the next frontier of this rapidly changing field.

Title: Leadless Pacemakers in Post Operative Patients: Is It Time For the New to Become the Normal?Invited Editorial: Manuscript ID JCE-23-0567.R2Tyler P. Rasmussen, MD, PhD and E. Michael Powers, MD, MBAUniversity of Iowa Carver College of MedicineDivision of Cariology, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology200 Hawkins Dr.Iowa City, IA [email protected] et al. describe a single center retrospective analysis of leadless pacemaker (LP) implant following cardiac surgery or transcatheter valvular procedures that highlights the performance of LPs when implanted in patients with atrioventricular block (AVB) and either high risk features for conventional transvenous pacing or permanent atrial fibrillation (1). LPs performed well with a limited number of patients (7%) requiring conversion to transvenous pacing and only a single procedural complication. However, there was a statistically significant decline in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the overall cohort. When subgroup analysis was performed, LVEF decline was only seen in those implanted with VVI devices but not in patients with VDD devices. Here, we discuss implications of this study.Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is now more common than surgical AVR but carries a greater risk of high degree atrioventricular block (AVB) (~10%) (2,3). Cardiac surgery has been linked to a 1-3% risk of permanent pacemaker implantation with higher rates in patients undergoing valve replacement (4). Therefore, the number of patients at risk for AVB related to cardiac surgery and catheter-based valve interventions is increasing over time and warrants a critical evaluation of optimal pacing strategy.Longitudinal registry data show that Micra (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) LPs have fewer required reinterventions and chronic complications compared to conventional transvenous pacing systems (5). Furthermore, mortality is comparable despite being implanted in patients with higher rates of end stage renal disease (ESRD) and medical complexity (5). LPs greatly outperform transvenous systems with respect to device related infections, as the rate of infection in LPs is trivial both short and long term (5,6). The risk of pacing induced cardiomyopathy (LVEF drop ≥ 10%) in pacemaker dependent patients is suggested to be equivalent or lower in those implanted with an LP (3%) versus those with a transvenous system (~13%) (7). A major drawback to the use of LPs is their inability to provide atrial pacing, which typically limits their use to patients without sinus node dysfunction.The current paper demonstrates that the use of LPs is a viable strategy in post-operative patients. Their cohort included 50 patients having undergone cardiac surgery and 28 with a transcatheter valvular procedure (1). Of the 28 transcatheter procedures, 25 were TAVI. Factors prompting an LP implant versus transvenous were permanent AF, ESRD, tricuspid valve pathology, history of endovascular infection, and dermatological disease. Mean time from surgery to device implant was 7.3 ± 8.0 days, which suggests an adequate waiting period for AV conduction recovery in most circumstances. The only complication in the cohort (1.3%) was an access site hematoma requiring evacuation. Device parameters were stable at follow-up with a small but clinically insignificant decline in impedance and trivial rise in threshold, which is consistent with previously published data regarding Micra (6). The two major findings were that the pacing burden declined significantly in the follow-up period and that there was a significant reduction in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in this cohort. Pacing percentages fell from mean 75% at implant to mean 48% at follow-up. The reduction in pacing burden suggests that many patients have late recovery in AV conduction post procedure. There was a drop in LVEF from baseline (55.0% ± 10.6%) versus follow-up (51.5% ± 11.2%, p =< 0.001), but this study is not designed to determine if the LVEF drop is because of the Micra or another unidentifiable factor. Importantly, the drop in LVEF was significant in the Micra VR group: baseline (54.1% ± 11.9%) versus follow-up (48.8% ± 11.9%, p = 0.003) but not in the Micra AV group: baseline (56.1 ± 9.0%) versus (54.6% ± 9.7%, p = 0.06). The only patient characteristic that was associated with a significant drop in LVEF (> 10%) versus those with stable EF was having a prior history of heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction. Taken together, this study showed that both Micra AV and VR can provide safe RV pacing in post-operative patients with a small, but significant risk for LVEF reduction that is likely linked to right ventricular pacing.

The necessary conditions for the optimal control of partially observed, fully coupled forward-backward mean-field stochastic differential equations driven by Teugels martingales are discussed in this paper. In this context, we make the assumption that the forward diffusion coefficient and the martingale coefficient are independent of the control variable, and the control domain may not necessarily be convex. For this class of optimal control problems, we derive the stochastic maximum principle based on the classical method of spike variations and the filtering techniques. The adjoint processes that are related to the variational equations are determined by the solutions of proposed forward-backward stochastic differential equations in finite-dimensional spaces. Further, the Hamiltonian function is used to obtain the maximum principle for the optimality of the given control system. Our results are then applied to the mean-field type problem of linear quadratic stochastic optimization.

INTRODUCTIONThe concept of cantilevered fixed partial denture (CFPD) was described as early as 1960.1 Subsequently, the innovations in dental materials and adhesive dentistry allowed for the description of full ceramic CFPDs as a sound solution for the replacement of missing anterior teeth in 1997.2 Since this initial description, this therapeutic solution has provided patients with a minimally invasive alternative to three-unit fixed partial dentures (FPD). The indication of CFPD is often disputed in comparison with an implant-based treatment, which in some cases, can present challenges, or even be contraindicated. In this regard, CFPDs benefits from more reproducible esthetics, quicker execution and lower costs.2The question remains, however, whether this method would also be suitable for the replacement of missing teeth in the posterior sector, the main problem being the significant increase in occlusal loads on the premolars and molars.3 Different teams have begun to develop posterior CFPDs and some already have the necessary follow-up to validate this practice.4-8 The material used in these early clinical trials has been zirconia doped with 3%mol yttrium oxide (3Y-TZP), which gives the best mechanical properties at the expense of low aesthetic translucency. Yazigii and Kern recommend a thickness of 0.7mm zirconia of the overlay part and a connector of at least 3mm in vertical section and 3mm in horizontal section to ensure the mechanical resistance of the CFPD’s pontic in the posterior sector.6 This case report describes the realization of a reinforced glass-ceramic CFPD replacing à first premolar, this material opens the possibility of single appointment chairside production, and has superior adhesive and esthetic characteristics compared to zirconia.9-11 Its lower mechanical resistance is however to be taken into consideration,12 but still might be suitable if some prerequisites are met.

Heterogeneous catalysts promoting efficient production of reactive species and dynamically stabilized electron transfer mechanisms for peroxomonosulfates (PMS) still lack systematic investigation. Herein, a more stable magnetic layered double oxides (CFLDO/N-C), was designed using self-polymerization and high temperature carbonization of dopamine. The CFLDO/N-C/PMS system effectively activated PMS to remove 99% (k=0.737 min-1) of tetracycline (TC) within 10 min. The CFLDO/N-C/PMS system exhibited favorable resistance to inorganic anions and natural organics, as well as satisfactory suitability for multiple pollutants. The magnetic properties of the catalyst facilitated the separation of catalysts from the liquid phase, resulting in excellent reproducibility and effectively reducing the leaching of metal ions. An electronic bridge was constructed between cobalt (the active platform of the catalyst) and PMS, inducing PMS to break the O-O bond to generate the active species. The combination of static analysis and dynamic evolution confirmed the effective adsorption of PMS on the catalyst surface as well as the strong radical-assisted electron transfer process. Eventually, we further identified the sites where the reactive species attacked the TC and evaluated the toxicity of the intermediates. These findings offer innovative insights into the rapid degradation of pollutants achieved by transition metals in SR-AOPs and its mechanistic elaboration.

The side-chain has a significant effect on the optical properties and aggregation behaviors of the organic small molecule acceptors, which becomes an important strategy to optimize the photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). In this work, we designed and synthesized three novel nonfused ring electron acceptors (NFREAs) OC4-4Cl-Ph, OC4-4Cl-Th and OC4-4Cl-C8 with hexylbenzene, hexylthiophene and octyl side chains on the π-bridge units. Compared with OC4-4Cl-Ph and OC4-4Cl-Th, OC4-4Cl-C8 with linear alkyl side chain has more red-shift absorption, which is conducive to obtaining higher short-circuit current density. Additionally, the OC4-4Cl-C8 film exhibits a longer exciton diffusion distance and the D18:OC4-4Cl-C8 blend film displays faster hole transfer, weaker bimolecular recombination, and more efficient exciton transport. Furthermore, the D18:OC4-4Cl-C8 blend films can form good nano fibril-like interpenetrating networks, which can facilitate exciton dissociation and charge transport. Finally, OC4-4Cl-C8 based devices can generate an excellent PCE of 16.56%, which is much higher than OC4-4Cl-Ph (12.29%) and OC4-4Cl-Th based (11.00%) ones, being the highest PCE among the NFREA based binary devices. All in all, we have demonstrated that side-chain engineering is an efficient way to achieve high-performance NFREAs.

Plant pathogens are important for ecosystem functioning and community assembly and respond to a variety of biotic and abiotic factors, which change along elevation gradients. Thus elevational gradients are a valuable model system for exploring how plant community, soil properties, and environmental factors influence pathogens. Yet, how these factors influence pathogens in nature remains poorly understood. We tested patterns and potential mechanisms of plant fungal pathogens along elevational gradients by combining a field survey in the Tibetan Plateau with a global meta-analysis. We found that increasing elevation was associated with a decrease in soil fungal pathogen richness but not foliar fungal disease symptoms. Elevation mainly related to soil fungal pathogen richness through abiotic factors. Whereas no evidence supported association between elevation and foliar fungal disease. The meta-analysis suggests some generality in the results of the field survey: elevation was associated with a decrease in soil fungal pathogen richness, but had no consistent relationship with foliar fungal disease or pathogens. Our study reveals distinct patterns of above- and belowground plant pathogen along elevation gradients and provides new insight into the potential mechanisms in shaping these patterns.

The lossless video coding framework based on HEVC is consisted of prediction and entropy coding, which directly determine the lossless coding efficiency. The initial residuals with large absolute values are directly coded by the lossy coefficient coding techniques in HEVC, which may compromise the lossless coding efficiency. In this paper, an optimized scheme based on transformation and quantization techniques for the HEVC Intra lossless coding is proposed as an additional mode. In the proposed scheme, an initial residual block is divided into two parts: the coefficient block and the second residual block. The coefficient block is derived by the lossy transformation and quantization technics in HEVC. The second residual block is made up with residuals of small absolute values. Both the coefficient block and the second residual block can be efficiently coded by the existing coefficient coding scheme in HEVC. Rate-distortion optimization is employed to choose between the proposed scheme and the transform bypass scheme to achieve the best coding performance for each block. The proposed scheme is implemented into the HM 12.1 software. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme achieves 3.36 percent bit-rate saving on average and up to 12.29 percent compared with the HEVC lossless coding under the Intra main configuration.

A document by Bryce Buddle. Click on the document to view its contents.

Phase change heat storage can solve some new energy intermittent and waste heat recovery problems, but heat storage is needed to act as this energy hub. Since the direct contact heat accumulator has the advantages of simple structure, large heat transfer area, and small heat transfer resistance, it is a good choice for improving energy storage rate. Although a great deal of research has been done on phase change materials and heat accumulators over the years, a systematic review of direct-contact heat accumulators is lacking. This paper reviews the related research on direct contact heat storage, aiming to summarize the research work on direct contact phase change heat storage systems. Various phase change materials (PCMs) for direct contact systems are analyzed, and the study of PCM melting crystallization behavior, heat transfer coefficients and system performance in direct contact systems is summarized, as well as the improvement methods for direct contact vessels and PCMs. It provides a useful reference for future research on direct-contact heat storage systems.

Recent evidence indicate that event-related potentials (ERPs) as measured on the electroencephalogram (EEG) are more closely related to transdiagnostic, dimensional measures of psychopathology (TDP) than to diagnostic categories. Given this, a comprehensive examination of correlations between well-studied ERPs and measures of TDP is called for. In this study, we recruited 50 patients with emotional disorders undergoing 14 weeks of transdiagnostic group psychotherapy as well as 37 healthy comparison subjects (HC) matched in age and sex. HCs were assessed once and patients three times throughout treatment (N = 172 datasets) with a battery of well-studied ERPs and psychopathology measures consistent with the TDP framework The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). ERPs were quantified using robust single-trial analysis (RSTA) methods and TDP correlations with linear regression models as implemented in the EEGLAB toolbox LIMO EEG. We found correlations at several levels of the HiTOP hierarchy. Among these, a reduced P3b as well as a reduced error-related negativity correlated strongly with worse symptomatology across the Internalizing spectrum. Conversely, increases in the correct-related negativity correlated with symptoms loading unto the Distress subfactor in the HiTOP. Increases in mismatch negativity were primarily related to maladaptive personality traits at the lowest levels of the HiTOP hierarchy. Our study highlights the advantages of RSTA methods and of using validated TDP constructs within a consistent framework such as the HiTOP. Future studies could utilize machine learning methods to predict TDP from a set of ERP features at the subject level.

Amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) oligomers, characteristic symptom of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), have been identified as the most neurotoxic species and significant contributors to neurodegeneration in AD. However, due to their transient and heterogeneous nature, the high-resolution structures and exact pathogenic processes of Aβ oligomers are currently unknown. Using light-controlled molecular tweezers (LMTs), we describe a method for precisely capturing specific Aβ oligomers produced from synthetic Aβ and AD animal models. Light irradiation can activate LMTs, which are composed of two Aβ-targeting pentapeptides (KLVFF) motifs and a rigid azobenzene (azo) derivative, to form a tweezer-like cis configuration that preferentially binds to specifc oligomers matching the space of the tweezers via multivalent interactions of KLVFF motifs with the oligomers. Surprisingly, cis-LMTs can immobilize the captured oligomers in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) in vivo under light irradiation. The LMTs may serve as spatiotemporally controllable molecular tools to extract specific native oligomers for the structure and function studies via their reversible photoisomerization, which would improve the understanding of the toxic mechanisms of Aβ oligomers and development of oligomer-targeted diagnosis and therapy.

Fluorescent-magneto nanoemitters have gained considerable attention for their applications in mechanical controlling-assisted optical signaling. However, the incompatibility between magnetic and fluorescent components often leads to functional limitations in traditional magneto@fluorescence nanostructure. Herein, we introduce a new compact-discrete spatial arrangement on a “fluorescence@magneto” core–shell nanostructure consisting of a close-packed aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen) core and a discrete magnetic shell. This structural design effectively eliminates the optical and magnetic interferences between the dual components by facilitating AIEgens loading in core region and reducing the magnetic feeding amount through effective exposure of the magnetic units. Thereby, the resulting magneto-AIEgen nanoparticle (MANP) demonstrates “win-win” performances: (i) high fluorescent intensity contributed by AIEgens stacking-enhanced photoluminescence and reduced photons loss from the meager magnetic shell; (ii) marked magnetic activity due to magneto extraposition-minimized magnetic shielding. Accordingly, the dual functions-retained MANP provides a proof of concept for construction of an immunochromatographic sensing platform, where it enables bright fluorescent labeling after magnetically enriching and separating procalcitonin and lipoarabinomannan in clinical human serum and urine, respectively, for the clinical diagnosis of bacterial infections-caused inflammation and tuberculosis. This study not only inspires the rational design of magnetic-fluorescent nanoemitter, but also highlights promising potential in magneto-assisted point-of-care test and biomedicine applications.