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Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa), as a popular ornamental plant worldwide, has a unique floral fragrance, and it is important in the pollination, ornamental, food, and fragrance product industries. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms for the synthesis of floral fragrance terpenoids in tree peony are not well understood, constraining their exploitation. P. suffruticosa 'Oukan' produces strong floral fragrance terpenoids with high ornamental value and excellent stress resistance and is considered a valuable model for studying tree peony floral fragrance formation. Based on transcriptome data analysis, the PsHMGR1 and PsTPS1 genes associated with floral terpene synthesis were cloned. Then, PsHMGR1 and PsTPS1 were functionally characterized by amino acid sequence analysis, multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic tree construction, qRT-PCR, and transgenic assay. PsHMGR1 contains two transmembrane structures and a conserved HMG-CoA_reductase_class I domain, and PsTPS1 belongs to TPS-a subfamily. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of PsHMGR1 and PsTPS1 increased and then decreased at different flower development stages, and both were significantly higher in flowers than in roots, stems, and leaves. In addition, the linalool content in PsHMGR1 transgenic lines was significantly higher than that of WT. Germacrene D, which was not found in WT, was detected in the flowers of PsTPS1 transgenic lines. These results indicate that PsHMGR1 and PsTPS1 promote terpene synthesis in plants and provide ideas for the molecular mechanism of enhancing terpene synthesis in tree peony floral fragrance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This meta‐analysis aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of antiprogressive disease (PD)‐(L)1‐based neoadjuvant therapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients and identify potential prognostic biomarkers. Data Sources: Databases were systematically searched for prospective clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of anti‐PD‐(L)1‐based neoadjuvant therapy for HNSCC before January 12, 2024. Review Methods: We estimated the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were further performed. Results: A total of 570 patients from 20 studies were included. The pooled major pathological response (MPR), pathological complete response (pCR), and partial pathological response (PPR) rates were 30.7%, 15.3%, and 68.2%, respectively. Surgical complications, surgical delayed rate, all grade treatment‐related adverse effects (TRAEs) and ≥Grade 3 TRAEs were 0.6%, 0.3%, 82.6%, and 9.7%, respectively. Best MPR or pCR rate was detected in patients receiving neoadjuvant anti‐PD‐(L)1 therapy + radiotherapy (with MPR rate of 75.5% and pCR rate of 51.1%) and neoadjuvant anti‐PD‐(L)1 therapy + chemotherapy groups (with MPR rate of 57.5% and pCR rate of 26.7%). No differences were detected in subgroups stratified by neoadjuvant treatment cycles, human papillomavirus (HPV) status, and tumor location. Patients with baseline Combined Positive Score (CPS) ≥ 20 have higher MPR and pCR rates compared to patients with CPS < 20. High Tumor Cell Proportion Score was also associated with MPR and pCR. Objective response rate is a strong predictor of MPR (odds ratio [OR] = 7.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.20%‐18.91%) and pCR (OR = 3.24, 95% CI = 1.40%‐7.48%). Conclusion: Anti‐PD‐(L)1‐based neoadjuvant therapy was effective and safe for HNSCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legislation governs both the admittance and treatment of forced migrants in the United States. Increasingly, many forced migrants are offered few welfare benefits, temporary protection, and no pathway to permanent residency. This paper explores forced migrants' legal categories and access to social welfare, focusing on five humanitarian protection statuses: Temporary Protected Status, Humanitarian Parole, Asylum Seeker, Refugee, and Asylee. Based on the concepts of welfare nationalism and the Protestant Work Ethic, our historical analysis examines the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 to see how this landmark legislation shaped access to welfare for noncitizens. We then focus on the emergence of humanitarian statuses since the 1950s and the legislation that constructed them. We conclude that immigration legislation governing forced migrants underlies an ideology of deserving, where some are treated as more meritorious than others. Thus, we call for welfare scholars to elevate immigration status as a key category in their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor immunological characterization includes evaluation of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and programmed cell death protein ligand‐1 (PD‐L1) expression. This study investigated TIL distribution, its prognostic value, and PD‐L1 expression in metastatic and matched primary tumors (PTs). Specimens from 550 pan‐cancer patients of the SHIVA01 trial (NCT01771458) with available metastatic biopsy and 111 matched PTs were evaluated for TILs and PD‐L1. Combined positive score (CPS), tumor proportion score (TPS), and immune cell (IC) score were determined. TILs and PD‐L1 were assessed according to PT organ of origin, histological subtype, and metastatic biopsy site. We found that TIL distribution in metastases did not vary according to PT organ of origin, histological subtype, or metastatic biopsy site, with a median of 10% (range: 0–70). TILs were decreased in metastases compared to PT (20% [5–60] versus 10% [0–40], p < 0.0001). CPS varied according to histological subtype (p = 0.02) and biopsy site (p < 0.02). TPS varied according to PT organ of origin (p = 0.003), histological subtype (p = 0.0004), and metastatic biopsy site (p = 0.00004). TPS was higher in metastases than in PT (p < 0.0001). TILs in metastases did not correlate with overall survival. In conclusion, metastases harbored fewer TILs than matched PT, regardless of PT organ of origin, histological subtype, and metastatic biopsy site. PD‐L1 expression increased with disease progression. © 2024 The Author(s). The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarath S Nair,1 Jyothi Nagesh,1 Shambhavi C,2 Anshul Singh,1 Shirley Lewis,1 Umesh Velu,1 Deepika Chenna3 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Kasturba Medical College Manipal MAHE, Manipal, Karnataka, India; 2Department of Medical Radiation Physics Program, MCHP Manipal, MAHE, Manipal, Karanataka, India; 3Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Kasturba Medical College Manipal MAHE, Manipal, Karnataka, IndiaCorrespondence: Jyothi Nagesh, Email jyothi.nagesh@manipal.eduObjective: To identify a suitable approach for blood irradiation other than the commonly used water medium and to study the impact of different algorithm dose computations.Methods: Water is the commonly used medium for blood irradiation. In this study computed tomography scans were taken with locally made blood irradiation phantoms other than water, by using air, rice powder and thermocole using parallel beam for 25 Gy. Plans were recalculated for different algorithms such as collapsed cone (CC), Monte Carlo (MC) and pencil beam (PB). The dose–volume parameters and measured doses were collected and analyzed for each medium and algorithm.Findings: The monitor unit (MU) for rice powder and water are close (2461± 57 and 2469± 61, respectively), with a maximum dose of 28.0± 1.8 and 28.0± 1.9 Gy. The PB algorithm resulted in lower monitor unit values regardless of the medium used, generating values of 2418, 2406, 2382, and 2362 for water, rice powder, air, and Thermocol, respectively. A significant increase in dose was observed irrespective of the medium used when the MC algorithm was employed, with a maximum of 30.26 Gy in rice powder; a smaller dose was used when the CC algorithm was employed, with 26.3 Gy in water medium. The average maximum doses of all groups were equal using the one-way Anova statistical test. Regarding the impact of field size, rice powder appears to have consistent doses across various field sizes, with slight increases as field size grows, which is similar to water.Novelty/Applications: While water is the conventional medium, this study highlights the potential benefits of rice powder, such as eliminating the risks associated with bubble formation and water spillage, which can lead to equipment malfunction and safety hazards. Although previous studies have explored rice powder as a bolus and tissue-equivalent material, this study uniquely applies this knowledge to blood irradiation, an area where rice powder has not been thoroughly investigated.Keywords: computed tomography, collapsed cone, Monte Carlo, pencil beam, monitor units, MU, treatment planning station.

Geometric morphometrics is a powerful tool for studying fish body shape; however, body posture can be a hindrance to these analyses. Here I introduce new R language tools for correcting multiple types of bending of 3D data based on the TPS suite (geometric morphometric software) “unbend specimens” methodology. In a sample dataset of darters, these R tools adequately accounted for posture artifacts otherwise evident across multiple principal component axes. I hope these new tools will facilitate the incorporation of 3D landmark data into the comparative analysis of fish body shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Cananga odorata is known as a natural perfume tree of the Annonaceae family in Magnoliales. However, its phylogenetic position and the molecular mechanisms involved in the biosynthesis of the floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) remain unclear.Here, by combining a variety of sequencing platforms, we present a telomere‐to‐telomere (T2T) genome of C. odorata with 735.83 Mb, which represents the highest integrity and assembly quality of genome in magnoliid plants reported to date. Phylogenetic analysis based on multiple datasets and approaches showed that C. odorata, as a member of magnoliids, is sister to eudicots, after their divergence from monocots.Metabolomic of VOCs in the essential oil and flowers scent showed that sesquiterpenes, especially β‐caryophyllene, were the major compounds. Two CoTPS21 homologues derived from tandem duplication events were highly expressed during flower development and were identified as the key sesquiterpene synthases for the production of β‐caryophyllene. In addition, CoSPL3 and CoSPL9 were considered as potential transcription factors for activating the expression of CoTPS21 homologues.Our results shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the biosynthesis of the unique floral fragrance in C. odorata and provide new insights into the phylogenetic position of magnoliids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dementia in Alzheimer's disease is a disorder that poses a significant public health problem, currently lacking both effective preventive methods and curative treatments that can genuinely slow its progression. In this context, numerous global studies are underway aimed at identifying and certifying superior therapeutic approaches for this pathology. This paper presents a synthesis of the specialized literature, outlining some of the latest treatments that have either been approved or are in the process of being approved based on the results of extensive clinical trials, focusing on the control of symptoms and progression of dementia in Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit aroma of Japanese apricot is distinct, and the specific volatile compounds are not clearly known during fruit development and during post‐harvest stage. This study therefore aimed to explore the volatile compounds present during these stages. The volatile compounds were analysed by headspace solid‐phase microextraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. OAV, PCA and electronic nose techniques were used to determine the characteristic aroma components. Enzyme‐linked immunoassay (ELISA) was also applied to determine the activity of enzymes. The results showed that in the cultivars 'Xiyeqing' a total of 52 components that included 20 terpenes, 15 aldehydes, 9 esters, 3 ketones and 5 other substances were detected during fruit development and post‐harvest stage. While in the cultivar 'Xiaoyezhugan' a total of 49 components that included 25 terpenes, 7 aldehydes, 11 esters, 1 alcohol, 3 ketones and 2 other substances were also detected during fruit development and post‐harvest stage. We concluded that the characteristic volatile compounds of mature Japanese apricot fruit were (+)‐limonene, linalool, damascenone, β‐damascenone and nonanal, finding the basis for the fruity, floral and sweet aroma of the Japanese apricot fruit. Further analysis indicated that low temperature inhibited the synthesis of esters and terpenes, and dark conditions were more favourable to the synthesis of volatile compounds than light conditions. Short‐term storage of Japanese apricot fruit at room temperature and dark conditions was conducive for the maintenance of volatile compounds, and low‐temperature storage was the most destructive to the fruit volatile compounds. These findings form a theoretical foundation for exploring the specific volatile compound of Japanese apricot and helped to determine the optimal storage condition of post‐harvest stage for Japanese apricot fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fly density can be a parameter for the success of waste management, both from containerization activities to final waste disposal, which must be integrated by sorting, collecting and transporting waste management. Waste that is not sorted can cause problems, one of which is disease caused by vectors. In this research, researchers used quantitative research as an approach. The research method used is an analytical survey while the type of research is cross sectional. The total population is 36 polling stations with a sample size of 20 polling stations using the Chi-Square test. Research shows that the independent variable value of sorting is significant (p-value = 0.014), with the level of fly density in the Madiun City Temporary Shelter (TPS). There is a relationship between waste sorting and the level of fly density in the Madiun City Temporary Shelter (TPS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Rose myrtle (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Ait.) Hassk), is an evergreen shrub species belonging to the family Myrtaceae, which is enriched with bioactive volatiles (α-pinene and β-caryophyllene) with medicinal and industrial applications. However, the mechanism underlying the volatile accumulation in the rose myrtle is still unclear. Results Here, we present a chromosome-level genomic assembly of rose myrtle (genome size = 466 Mb, scaffold N50 = 43.7 Mb) with 35,554 protein-coding genes predicted. Through comparative genomic analysis, we found that gene expansion and duplication had a potential contribution to the accumulation of volatile substances. We proposed that the action of positive selection was significantly involved in volatile accumulation. We identified 43 TPS genes in R. tomentosa. Further transcriptomic and TPS gene family analyses demonstrated that the distinct gene subgroups of TPS may contribute greatly to the biosynthesis and accumulation of different volatiles in the Myrtle family of shrubs and trees. The results suggested that the diversity of TPS-a subgroups led to the accumulation of special sesquiterpenes in different plants of the Myrtaceae family. Conclusions The high quality chromosome-level rose myrtle genome and the comparative analysis of TPS gene family open new avenues for obtaining a higher commercial value of essential oils in medical plants.

Background: Rose myrtle (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Ait.) Hassk), is an evergreen shrub species belonging to the family Myrtaceae, which is enriched with bioactive volatiles (α-pinene and β-caryophyllene) with medicinal and industrial applications. However, the mechanism underlying the volatile accumulation in the rose myrtle is still unclear. Results: Here, we present a chromosome-level genomic assembly of rose myrtle (genome size = 466 Mb, scaffold N50 = 43.7 Mb) with 35,554 protein-coding genes predicted. Through comparative genomic analysis, we found that gene expansion and duplication had a potential contribution to the accumulation of volatile substances. We proposed that the action of positive selection was significantly involved in volatile accumulation. We identified 43 TPS genes in R. tomentosa. Further transcriptomic and TPS gene family analyses demonstrated that the distinct gene subgroups of TPS may contribute greatly to the biosynthesis and accumulation of different volatiles in the Myrtle family of shrubs and trees. The results suggested that the diversity of TPS-a subgroups led to the accumulation of special sesquiterpenes in different plants of the Myrtaceae family. Conclusions: The high quality chromosome-level rose myrtle genome and the comparative analysis of TPS gene family open new avenues for obtaining a higher commercial value of essential oils in medical plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the building sector towards more sustainable, resource efficient, and renewable materials. Bio-based insulation derived from renewable resources, such as plant or animal fibres, is one promising group of such materials. Compared to mineral wool and polystyrene-based insulation materials, these bio-based insulation materials generally have a slightly higher thermal conductivity, and they are significantly more hygroscopic, two factors that need to be considered when using these bio-based insulation materials. This study assesses the hygrothermal properties of three bio-based insulation materials: eelgrass, grass, and wood fibre. All three have the potential to be locally sourced in Sweden. Mineral wool (stone wool) was used as a reference material. Hygrothermal material properties were measured with dynamic vapour sorption (DVS), transient plane source (TPS), and sorption calorimetry. Moisture buffering of the insulation materials was assessed, and their thermal insulation capacity was tested on a building component level in a hot box that exposed the materials to a steady-state climate, simulating in-use conditions in, e.g., an external wall. The tested bio-based insulation materials have significantly different sorption properties to stone wool and have higher thermal conductivity than what the manufacturers declared. The hot-box experiments showed that the insulating capacity of the bio-based insulators cannot be reliably calculated from the measured thermal conductivity alone. The results of this study could be used as input data for numerical simulations and analyses of the thermal and hygroscopic behaviour of these bio-based insulation materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel approach for natural stitching multiple images by integrating thin-plate spline (TPS), cylindrical projection, and plumb-line constraint. Firstly, the homography estimated under plumb-line constraint is used to transform each image to keep the scene in the image upward as much as possible, so as to suppress the accumulation of image projection deformation and make the transformed images approximately available for cylindrical projection. Then, by introducing cylindrical projection into TPS as a global transformation, a multiple image alignment framework called cylindrical projection thin-plate spline (CP-TPS) is established to accurately align the transformed images. In this step, the virtual control points (VCP) are set in the non-overlapping area of images so that the CP-TPS can produce desired deformation in the final stitched image. Finally, a seam-line intersecting the significant structure in the aligned image is automatically generated by combining TPS, dynamic programming matching, and control points triangulation. In this step, the seam-line itself is used to estimate CP-TPS parameter. Experiments were conducted on four public image sets. The results show that the proposed approach can realize the natural stitching of public multiple image sets and has the best performance, compared with Autostitch, APAP, NISwGSP, ELA, and GES-GSP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Na-GMMT/TPS pellets (TPS for short) were prepared with sodium montmorillonite as filler. TPS was blended with PBAT in different proportions, and TPS-PBAT composites were prepared by twin-screw extruder. The structure and properties of TPS-PBAT composites were characterized by universal material testing machine, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analyzer (TG) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that when TPS is used as matrix, the tensile strength of the composites can be greatly improved while maintaining good elongation at break. The elongation at break of TPS-PBAT-4 composites is 233.3% and the tensile strength is 18.9 MPa. With the increase of TPS content, the diffraction peaks of the composites gradually flatten, indicating that the addition of TPS reduces the crystallinity of the composites. The addition of TPS improves the thermal stability of corn starch and PBAT. When PBAT is used as matrix, the compatibility between TPS and PBAT is poor. When TPS is used as matrix, there is no obvious boundary between TPS and PBAT, and it shows better compatibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable blends based on plasticized poly(lactic acid) PLA and thermoplastic starch (TPS) have been obtained. The influence of the PLA plasticizer as a compatibility agent has been studied by using two different plasticizers such as neat oligomeric lactic acid (OLA) and functionalized with maleic acid (mOLA). In particular, the morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties have been studied as well as the shape memory ability of the melt-processed materials. Therefore, the influence of the interaction between different plasticizers and the PLA matrix as well as the compatibility between the two polymeric phases on the thermally-activated shape memory properties have been studied. It is very interesting to use the same additive able to act as both plasticizer and compatibilizer, decreasing the glass transition temperature of PLA to a temperature close to the physiological one, obtaining a material suitable for potential biomedical applications. In particular, we obtain that OLA-plasticized blend (oPLA/TPS) show very good thermally-activated capability at 45 °C and 50% deformation, while the blend obtained by using maleic OLA (moPLA/TPS) did not show shape memory behavior at 45 °C and 50% deformation. This fact is due to their morphological changes and the loss of two well-distinguished phases, one acting as fixed phase and the other one acting as switching phase to typically obtain shape memory response. Therefore, the thermally-activated shape memory results show that it is very important to make a balance between plasticizer and compatibilizer, considering the need of two well-established phases to obtain shape memory response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) exposure might induce tissue damage through non-thermal effects. Nonetheless, only a few studies have evaluated the non-thermal effects on the testis undergoing reproductive development following Wi-Fi exposure. This study aimed to assess the oxidative stress status in the testis and subsequent sperm quality of growing rat pups that received edible bird nest (EBN) supplementation simultaneously. Materials and Methods: Fourteen weeks of 2. 45GHz Wi-Fi exposure and simultaneous 250mg/kg EBN were supplemented to three-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats. Thirty animals were divided equally into control, control EBN, Wi-Fi, sham Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi+EBN. Results: Results showed an increase in total oxidant status (TOS), a significant decrease in total antioxidant status (TAS), and a significant increase in the expression of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in the testis of the Wi-Fi group. Sperm chromatin integrity, morphology, concentration, and motility were among the parameters that significantly decreased. Supplementation of 250mg/kg EBN in the Wi-Fi+EBN group significantly reduced TOS and 8-OHdG expression in the testis. EBN supplementation also significantly increased sperm chromatin integrity, morphology, and concentration. Conclusion: Wi-Fi exposure induces oxidative stress in the testis and affects important sperm parameters in rat pups. EBN supplementation quenched the oxidative stress activity due to Wi-Fi exposure and improved sperm quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate whether there is a relationship between the quality management method and the supplier performance measurement system. The results indicate that in some cases, organizations that had implemented lean management or TPS used supplier assessment measures more often and perceived them as more important ones. Moreover, according to the study, the most popular supplier measures are within the scope of process ones, such as timeliness of deliveries and completeness of deliveries. From the product measures, the most important one is the defectiveness level. The environmental measures' importance is, on an average level, much lower than the core-business ones. The most critical environmental supplier measure is using hazardous substances in production.

Atmospheric turbulence will degrade the shooting effect of remote imaging equipment in a variety of scenes, because the distortion caused by turbulence involves changes in spatial blur, distortion of geometry, and interference from sensor noise. To mitigate distortion and blurring, this paper proposes a new solution based on the fusion of mathematical interpolation and deep learning. Firstly, TPS (Thin Plate Spline) is used to reduce the distortion of turbulence imaging. Secondly, a simple convolutional neural network containing a lightweight feature extraction residual module was used for deblurring. We have conducted sufficient experiments on different types of turbulence data that the proposed framework can mitigate the motion blur and geometric distortion caused by atmospheric turbulence, thus resulting in a dramatic improvement in visual quality. The proposed network improves the PSNR of image restoration by 0.73-3.50 dB on the algorithm simulation dataset, by 0.23-2.67 dB on the physical simulation dataset, and has a good mitigation effect in real turbulence scenes. Furthermore, an ablation study is conducted to illustrate the enhancements achieved by the various modules in the proposed method.

This paper presents a novel method for real‐time generation of seamless spherical panoramic videos from an omnidirectional multi‐camera system (OMS). Firstly, a multi‐view video alignment model called spherical projection constrained thin‐plate spline (SP‐TPS) was established and estimated using an approximately symmetrical seam‐line, maintaining the structure inconsistency around the seam‐line. Then, a look‐up table was designed to support real‐time processing of video re‐projection, video dodging and seam‐line updates. In the table, the overlapping areas in OMS multi‐view videos, the seam‐lines between spherical panoramas and OMS multi‐view videos and the pixel coordinate mapping relationship between spherical panoramas and OMS multi‐view videos were pre‐stored as a whole. Finally, a spherical panoramic video was outputted in real‐time through look‐up table computation under an ordinary GPU processor. The experiments were conducted on multi‐view video taken by "1 + 4" and "1 + 7" OMS, respectively. Experimental results demonstrate that compared with four state‐of‐the‐art methods reported in the literature and two bits of commercial software for video stitching, the proposed method excels in eliminating visual artefacts and demonstrates superior adaptability to scenes with varying depths of field. Assuming that OMS is not movable in the scene, this method can generate seamless spherical panoramic videos with a resolution of 8 K in real time, which is of great value to the surveillance field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Computer Measurement & Control is the property of Magazine Agency of Computer Measurement & Control and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The number of TPS, in the 2017 DKI Jakarta Pilkada, was designed to suit the number of DPTs in one sub-district. There is a spatial relationship in the number of TPS, total DPT and the area between neighboring sub-districts which are processed using the Geoda application. The purpose of the study is Spatial Analysis of The Suitability In Number of TPS at Kelurahan Based on Area And Number of DPT In DKI Jakarta Election 2017. This research is based on data from the 2017 DKI Jakarta Regional Election Voters, which was conducted using quantitative research methods by describing the findings with the help of Geoda software. The results of the analysis on this conclusion show that the number of DPT and area area have a positive effect on the number of polling stations in Kelurahan in DKI Jakarta. In addition, there is a spatial relationship in the number of polling stations and the total DPT between neighboring villages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Baghdad Science Journal is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ca-GMMT suspension was prepared by calcium-based montmorillonite (Ca-MMT) and glycerol in a constant temperature oil bath. The composite thermoplastic starch (TPS) was prepared by Ca-GMMT, glycerol and starch in a certain proportion under high temperature hot shear of twin screw extruder. The effect of Ca-GMMT filling amount on the properties of TPS materials was analyzed. The results show that the addition of Ca-GMMT can greatly improve the tensile strength of TPS materials. The addition of Ca-GMMT does not change the crystallization of TPS. The addition of Ca-GMMT improves the thermal stability of TPS materials. When the addition amount of Ca-GMMT is 8%, the initial thermal decomposition temperature and the maximum thermal decomposition rate temperature of TPS increase from 288.6 °C and 312.2 °C of TPS to 304.3 °C and 321.8 °C, respectively. The amylopectin in corn starch will enter the lamellar structure of MMT to form a tighter structure, but the addition of too much Ca-GMMT will form a agglomerated structure, which will affect the compatibility of the composites. The addition of Ca-GMMT can greatly improve the hydrophilicity of TPS materials, and when the addition of Ca-GMMT reaches 8%, the TPS material changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Bitcoin and Ethereum have witnessed a surge in trading activity, driven by venture capital investment and funding through initial coin offerings (ICOs) and initial exchange offerings (IEOs). This heightened interest has led to kickstarting a vibrant ecosystem for blockchain development. The total number of cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap.com has reached 2,274 highlights how dynamic and wide blockchain development landscape has grown. In blockchain development, new blockchain projects are being created by forking blockchains inspired by major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. These projects aim to address the perceived shortcomings and improve existing technologies. Altcoins, representing these alternative cryptocurrencies, are an ongoing industry effort to improve performance and security with enhancement proposals such as Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP), Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), and EOSIO Enhancement Proposals (EEP). With competitive attempts to improve blockchain performance and security, an ongoing performance race between various blockchains has taken shape, each claiming its own performance advantages. In this paper, we describe the transactions contained in the blocks of each representative blockchain, and find the factors that affect the transactions per second (TPS) through transaction processing and block generation processes, and suggest their relationship with scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) is essential for plant growth and development, linking trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) to carbon metabolism. However, little is known about the TPS gene family in peaches and their potential roles in regulating carbohydrates in peach fruit. In this study, nine TPS genes were identified in the peach genome and named according to the homologous genes in Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic analysis showed that three subfamilies were identified, including TPSI, TPSII-1, and TPSII-2, which were also consistent with gene structure analysis. Considerable cis-elements were enriched in the promoters, including plant hormone-related elements. Tissue-specific analysis showed that these TPS genes were mainly expressed in leaves, stems, and fruit, showing different expression patterns for each gene. In addition, during fruit development, the content of trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) was positively correlated with the expression of PpTPS7a and negatively with sucrose non-fermenting-1-related kinase 1 (SnRK1) activity. Transient overexpression and silencing of PpTPS7a in peach fruit validated its function in regulating T6P content and SnRK1 activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasticizers are widely used in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), polylactic acid (PLA), thermoplastic starch (TPS), and other modified powder materials to enhance the flowability, flexibility, and processability of macromolecules. Because of the reprotoxicity of phthalates in animals and humans, certain phthalates have recently been banned in the United States and Europe. Biobased plasticizers from green biomass–derived renewable resources with low toxicity are expected to be a substitute for phthalates. Among a variety of newly developed biobased monomers, cardanol, and isosorbide are the two most promising materials because of their unique structural features. This review summarizes the research progress of cardanol‐ and isosorbide‐based plasticizers with synergistic effects of plasticization, thermal stabilization, and anti‐migration. By summarizing and analyzing the relationship between molecular structure of plasticizer and plasticizing performance, this review can provide theoretical guidance for future research on the design of isosorbide‐ and cardanol‐based plasticizers. Highlights: Biobased plasticizers with low toxicity are expected to replace certain phthalates.The plasticizing effect of single biobased plasticizer is not good.Biobased plasticizer with synergistic effects is required.There exists the trade‐off effect between the molecular weight and the compatibility.Epoxidized isosorbide ester can be used as a heat stabilizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate whether there is a relationship between the quality management method and the supplier performance measurement system. The results indicate that in some cases, organizations that had implemented lean management or TPS used supplier assessment measures more often and perceived them as more important ones. Moreover, according to the study, the most popular supplier measures are within the scope of process ones, such as timeliness of deliveries and completeness of deliveries. From the product measures, the most important one is the defectiveness level. The environmental measures' importance is, on an average level, much lower than the corebusiness ones. The most critical environmental supplier measure is using hazardous substances in production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to find out that the average learning outcomes of students who study using the Think Pair Share (TPS) learning model are higher than the average learning outcomes of students who study using the Direct Instruction (DI) learning model. The population of this study were all class VII students at Garuda Manado Middle School. The samples taken in this research were class VIIA as the experimental class and class VIIB as the control class. Data analysis to test the hypothesis that the average learning outcomes of students studying algebraic material who studied using the TPS learning model were higher than the average learning outcomes of students who studied using the DI learning model, was carried out using the t-test with a significance level of α = 0.05. The value obtained is t_count = 3.75 > t_table = 1,729, thus it can be concluded that the average learning outcomes of students who study using the TPS learning model are higher than the average learning outcomes of students who study using using the DI learning model

Purpose of the following text is to compare three production systems,: Toyota Production System, World Class Manufacturing and Nissan Production Way. For it purpose, a comparative study was carried out based on three categories: system, design, popularity and versatility. For each of the comparison categories, a method was adjusted. System design: comparison of assumptions and system construction schemes according to the authors of a given solution. Popularity: analysis of search engine results from Google, Google Scholar, Bing and Yahoo! obtained from searches for the phrases "Toyota Production System," "World Class Manufacturing" and "Nissan Production Way". Versality: case studies of system implementations by other organisations than authoring automotive corporations. As a result of the comparison, it can be seen that the most complex and elaborate system is WCM, which has a multi-element structure as well as predetermined levels of sophistication. Relatively the simplest of the compared solutions turned out to be NPW. In the case of popularity, the leader is TPS in Google’s search engines, WCM in Bing and Yahoo!, while the least popular solution in the Internet’s space is the system by Nissan Motor Corporation. The versatility category indicates that the TPS and WCM systems have similar implementation capabilities, while NPW turns out to be a specific and exclusive solution for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and has no external implementations. The results provide an overall picture of the situation regarding production systems in the automotive industry and can provide a starting point for more advanced analysis of existing solutions and allow the design of other systems.

Biocomposites have gained attention in the packaging industry due to their potential as sustainable alternatives to conventional synthetic materials. In this study, novel cotton incorporated poly(lactic acid)/thermoplastic starch biocomposites were developed for packaging applications using in short shelf life products the extrusion method. Pelletized samples obtained by extrusion were stamped from plates obtained by compression and were characterized through measurement of density, hardness, contact angle and water absorption, as well as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). No significant changes in the density results were observed. A slight increase in the hardness of formulations in relation to the PLA was associated with the presence of cotton fiber in biocomposites. The FTIR results revealed physical interaction of PLA, TPS and cotton fiber. By DSC analysis, for all formulations the melting exhibited only one peak, suggesting good homogeneity and interaction among the components, as observed by TG/DTG results, and corroborating SEM analysis. The biocomposite PLA/TPS/Cotton 85/10/5 wt.% displayed greater increase in water absorption than both 95/5/0 and 90/5/5 wt.% formulations, which can be attributed to the increase in starch proportion, confirming the contact angle results. The hydrophilic tendency corroborated the biodegradation process in the packaging end-of-life.

Due to technological limitations and budget constraints, spatiotemporal image fusion uses the complementarity of high temporal–low spatial resolution (HTLS) and high spatial–low temporal resolution (HSLT) data to obtain high temporal and spatial resolution (HTHS) fusion data, which can effectively satisfy the demand for HTHS data. However, some existing spatiotemporal image fusion models ignore the large difference in spatial resolution, which yields worse results for spatial information under the same conditions. Based on the flexible spatiotemporal data fusion (FSDAF) framework, this paper proposes a multilevel single-image super-resolution (SISR) method to solve this issue under the large difference in spatial resolution. The following are the advantages of the proposed method. First, multilevel super-resolution (SR) can effectively avoid the limitation of a single SR method for a large spatial resolution difference. In addition, the issue of noise accumulation caused by multilevel SR can be alleviated by learning-based SR (the cross-scale internal graph neural network (IGNN)) and then interpolation-based SR (the thin plate spline (TPS)). Finally, we add the reference information to the super-resolution, which can effectively control the noise generation. This method has been subjected to comprehensive experimentation using two authentic datasets, affirming that our proposed method surpasses the current state-of-the-art spatiotemporal image fusion methodologies in terms of performance and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The precision of the dose delivery in radiation therapy with high-field MR-linacs is challenging due to the substantial variation in the beam attenuation of the patient positioning system (PPS) (the couch and coils) as a function of the gantry angle. This work aimed to compare the attenuation of two PPSs located at two different MR-linac sites through measurements and calculations in the treatment planning system (TPS). Attenuation measurements were performed at every 1° gantry angle at the two sites with a cylindrical water phantom with a Farmer chamber inserted along the rotational axis of the phantom. The phantom was positioned with the chamber reference point (CRP) at the MR-linac isocentre. A compensation strategy was applied to minimise sinusoidal measurement errors due to, e.g. air cavity or setup. A series of tests were performed to assess the sensitivity to measurement uncertainties. The dose to a model of the cylindrical water phantom with the PPS added was calculated in the TPS (Monaco v5.4 as well as in a development version Dev of an upcoming release), for the same gantry angles as for the measurements. The TPS PPS model dependency of the dose calculation voxelisation resolution was also investigated. A comparison of the measured attenuation of the two PPSs yielded differences of less than 0.5% for most gantry angles. The maximum deviation between the attenuation measurements for the two different PPSs exceeded ±1% at two specific gantry angles 115° and 245°, where the beam traverses the most complex PPS structures. The attenuation increases from 0% to 25% in 15° intervals around these angles. The measured and calculated attenuation, as calculated in v5.4, was generally within 1-2% with a systematic overestimation of the attenuation for gantry angles around 180°, as well as a maximum error of 4-5% for a few discrete angles in 10° gantry angle intervals around the complex PPS structures. The PPS modelling was improved compared to v5.4 in Dev, especially around 180°, and the results of those calculations were within ±1%, but with a similar 4% maximum deviation for the most complex PPS structures. Generally, the two tested PPS structures exhibit very similar attenuation as a function of the gantry angle, including the angles with a steep change in attenuation. Both TPS versions, v5.4 and Dev delivered clinically acceptable accuracy of the calculated dose, as the differences in the measurements were overall better than ±2%. Additionally, Dev improved the accuracy of the dose calculation to ±1% for gantry angles around 180°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the dosimetric impact of the calculation boundaries and dose calculation algorithms of radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients with an opened oral cavity connected to the exterior by a hollow intraoral positioning stent. Methods and Materials: A homemade silicone phantom with an opened oral cavity was placed in a CIRS head phantom to model head and neck cancer patients with a hollow intraoral positioning stent. 3D‐CRT plans were designed on CT images of the phantom in Monaco and Pinnacle3 treatment planning systems (TPSs) with the same beam parameters. The default boundary and manually extrapolated boundary were both adopted in these two TPSs to explore the dosimetric impact on treatment plans. The nanoDot™ optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs) were chosen to measure the planned dose surrounding the oral cavity of the head phantom after calibration. Result: The doses in the air cavity and two measuring points at the joint area were dramatically changed from 0.0, 92.4 and 148.8 cGy to 177.8, 244.2 and 244.1 cGy in Monaco after adopting the extrapolated boundary. While the calculated doses at the same place were changed from 61.2, 143.7 and 198.3 cGy to 175.4, 234.7 and 233.2 cGy in Pinnacle3 with a similar calculation boundary. For the Monaco TPS, the relative errors compared to the OSLD measured doses were 2.94 ± 1.93%, 0.53 ± 8.64%, 2.65 ± 1.87% and 3.93 ± 1.69% at 4 measuring positions. In contrast, the relative errors 4.03 ± 1.93%, 4.85 ± 8.64%, 7.61 ± 1.87% and 5.61 ± 1.69% were observed in Pinnacle3. Conclusion: The boundary setting of an opened oral cavity in TPSs has a significant dosimetric impact on head and neck cancer radiotherapy. An extrapolated boundary should be manually set up to include the whole oral cavity in the dose calculation domain to avoid major dose deviations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two classes of thermal protection systems composed of a carbon-fibre-reinforced (CFRP) layer and an ablative material layer joined with a thermo-resistant ceramic adhesive were developed. The two classes differ in the composition of the ablative material reinforcing compound. In the first class, the ablative material is based on micronic-sized cork granules, and in the second class, the ablative material is reinforced with carbonic felt. For both classes of thermal protection systems, the reinforcement material was impregnated in simple phenolic resin, and nanometric additive, consisting of silicon carbide nanoparticles added in two different weight contents (1 and 2% by weight) relative to the resin. The thermal conductivity for the ablative materials in the thermal protection systems structure was determined. A test facility using oxy-butane flame was developed through which the thermal protection systems developed were tested at extreme temperatures, to simulate some thermal conditions in space applications. The materials were characterised from a morphostructural point of view using optical and scanning electron microscopy after thermal testing. The TPS composed of the carbon-felt-based ablative layer showed improved behaviour compared to the cork-based ablative ones in terms of the temperature increase rate during thermal conductivity testing, mass loss, as well as morphostructural appearance and material erosion after oxy-butane testing. The nSiC-based samples in both sets of TPSs showed improved behaviour compared to the un-filled ones, considering the temperature increase, mass loss, and morphostructure of the eroded material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As PD-L1 expression has been proposed as one of the cancer biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the predictive value of tumour proportional score (TPS) in the effect of immunotherapy [programmed death protein-1/ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) inhibitors] for NSCLC is worth exploring further. Here, we aimed to summarise the outcomes of current NSCLC randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and explore the predictive value of TPS in clinical immunotherapy, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with or without chemotherapy. RCTs published by PubMed, Medline, Embase and Scopus before February 2023 comparing immunotherapy (PD-1/L1 with or without other therapy) versus a control group in advanced or metastatic NSCLC were included to assess the prognosis according to the patients' TPS with 1% and 50% as the thresholds. The primary endpoints were overall survival and progression-free survival. In total, 28 RCTs containing 17 266 participants with advanced or metastatic NSCLC were included in this meta-analysis. Statistical results showed that compared with TPS <1%, ≥1% or within 1–49%, patients with TPS ≥50% benefited more significantly from the immunotherapy. A subgroup analysis showed that when TPS was <1%, ≥1% or within 1–49%, ICIs + chemotherapy had better efficacy than ICIs alone; PD-1 (such as pembrolizumab) inhibitors had better efficacy than PD-L1 inhibitors (such as atezolizumab). The efficacy of immunotherapy (PD-1/L1 inhibitors) for advanced or metastatic NSCLC is influenced by TPS. • For patients with advanced NSCLC, the efficacy of immunotherapy is related to TPS. • For patients with TPS>50%, immunotherapy has ideal efficacy. • For patients with high PD-L1 expression, immunotherapy can be recommended first. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trehalose and its precursor, trehalose-6-phosphate, play critical roles in plant metabolism and response to abiotic stresses. Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) is a key enzyme in the trehalose synthesis pathway. Hence this study identified TPS genes in sesame (SiTPSs) and examined their expression patterns under various abiotic stresses. Totally, ten SiTPSs were identified and comprehensively characterized. SiTPSs were found to be unevenly distributed on five out of 13 sesame chromosomes and were predicted to be localized in chloroplasts and vacuoles of cells. Phylogenetic analysis classified SiTPS proteins into two groups (I and II), which was supported by gene structure and conserved motif analyses. Analysis of cis-acting elements in promoter regions of SiTPSs revealed that they might primarily involve developmental and environmental responses. SiTPSs exhibited different expression patterns in different tissues and under different abiotic stresses. Most group II SiTPS genes (SiTPS4 - SiTPS10) were strongly induced by drought, salt, waterlogging, and osmotic stress. Particularly, SiTPS10 was the most significantly up-regulated under various abiotic stresses, indicating it is a candidate gene for improving sesame tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses. Our results provide insight into the TPS gene family in sesame and fundamental resources for genomics studies towards dissecting SiTPS genes’ functions.

In recent years, plastics recycling has become one of the leading environmental and waste management issues. Along with the main advantage of plastics, which is undoubtedly their long life, the problem of managing their waste has arisen. Recycling is recognised as the preferred option for waste management, with the aim of reusing them to create new products using 3D printing. Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging and evolving rapid tooling technology. With 3D printing, it is possible to achieve lightweight structures with high dimensional accuracy and reduce manufacturing costs for non-standard geometries. Currently, 3D printing research is moving towards the production of materials not only of pure polymers but also their composites. Bioplastics, especially those that are biodegradable and compostable, have emerged as an alternative for human development. This article provides a brief overview of the possibilities of using thermoplastic waste materials through the application of 3D printing, creating innovative materials from recycled and naturally derived materials, i.e., biomass (natural reinforcing fibres) in 3D printing. The materials produced from them are ecological, widely available and cost-effective. Research activities related to the production of bio-based materials have gradually increased over the last two decades, with the aim of reducing environmental problems. This article summarises the efforts made by researchers to discover new innovative materials for 3D printing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Paris System for Reporting Urinary Cytology (TPS) is considered the gold standard when it comes to diagnostic classifications of urine specimens. Its second edition brought some important changes, including the abolition of the diagnostic category of "low-grade urothelial neoplasm (LGUN)", acknowledging the inability of cytology to reliably discern low-grade urothelial lesions. Methods: In this retrospective study, we assessed the validity of this change, studying the cytological diagnoses of histologically diagnosed low-grade urothelial carcinomas during a three-year period. Moreover, we correlated the sum of the urinary cytology diagnoses of this period with the histological diagnoses, whenever available. Results: Although all the cytological diagnoses of LGUN were concordant with the histological diagnoses, most low-grade urothelial carcinomas were misdiagnosed cytologically. Subsequently, the positive predictive value (PPV) of urinary cytology for the diagnosis of LGUN was 100%, while the sensitivity was only 21.7%. Following the cyto-histopathological correlation of the sum of the urinary cytology cases, the sensitivity of urinary cytology for the diagnosis of high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HGUC) was demonstrated to be 90.1%, the specificity 70.8%, the positive predictive value (PPV) 60.3%, the negative predictive value (NPV) 93.6% and the overall accuracy 77.2%, while for LGUN, the values were 21.7%, 97.2%, 87.5%, 58.6% and 61.9%, respectively. Risk of high-grade malignancy was 0% for the non-diagnostic (ND), 4.8% for the non-high-grade urothelial carcinoma (NHGUC), 33.3% for the atypical urothelial cells (AUCs), 65% for the suspicious for high-grade urothelial carcinoma (SHGUC), 100% for the HGUC and 12.5% for the LGUN diagnostic categories. Conclusions: This study validates the incorporation of the LGUN in the NHGUC diagnostic category in the second edition of TPS. Moreover, it proves the ability of urinary cytology to safely diagnose HGUC and stresses the pivotal role of its diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall–runoff events occurring in vineyard fields can result in pesticide ground losses and the subsequent pollution of surface water bodies, derivate from the crop protection spray applications. In this study, the capacity of vegetated buffer strips (BS) to prevent surface water pollution due to the application of five fungicide products typically used in vineyards (copper, dimethomorph, oxathiapiprolin, zoxamide, acibenzolar-s-methyl, and laminarin) following a simulated run-off event has been assessed, and compared to that from a bare ground soil (BG). Two strips (5 m in length, each), one with vegetation and the other without were built up, and two different experiments were performed, a runoff event and a soil fungicide degradation kinetic evaluation. The runoff results show that fungicide mass retention in the strips ranged from 73 to 98% and that the presence of vegetation in BS increased the fungicide mass retention in the strips by almost 10% (on average) in comparison to the unvegetated strip. Moreover, soil degradation studies highlighted that the presence of vegetation reduces significantly the half-time life of almost all the studied fungicides by 55%, on average. Eight fungicide transformation products (TPs) were identified following a runoff event in the soil strips, but the abundance of these TPs was up to 78% lower in vegetated strips. These results highlight the effectiveness of using vegetated buffer zones in vineyards to protect aquatic ecosystem pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Spinal metastases may only affect the bone tissue and result in spinal instability or may additionally result in epidural compression, leading to neurological deficits. Surgery has emerged as a popular method in treating metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC) due to the advances in surgical techniques and instrumentation. In this study, we evaluated patients with MESCC regarding neurological status, pain status, and survival rates, and presented our experience managing MESCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical and radiographic records of 53 patients diagnosed with MESCC between January 2011 and March 2017 were retrospectively evaluated. The study included patients with a pathological diagnosis of primary cancer, those who complained of spinal metastasis, and those who had indications of MESCC on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Bone structure and spinal stability were evaluated using assessed Computed Tomography (CT), and metastatic spread was considered using assessed Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in suitable cases. For each patient, the presence of a tumor compressing the spinal cord, age, gender, preoperative, and postoperative American Spinal Injury Association scores (ASIA), Tokuhashi prognostic score (TPS), affected spinal segment, pathological diagnosis, preoperative, and postoperative Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the status of spinal stability, follow-up period, and complications were evaluated. RESULTS: Forty-five patients (82.2% of them were women) underwent surgery with a mean age of 58.29 ± 15.14 years. The most frequent type of primary tumor was multiple myeloma (33.9%), followed by lung (24.6%), gastric (7.5%), and prostate (5.7%). The most common site of lowed by lumbar (24.5%), multiple (24.5%), and cervical (5.7%). The analysis indicated that a significant difference was found between the survival rates of the TPS categories. CONCLUSIONS: Common symptoms of MESCC include spinal pain and neurological deficit below the level of the injury. Prompt surgical treatment followed by oncological treatment leads to significant neurological recovery, more prolonged survival, pain relief, and improved quality of life in patients with a short survival time. Oncological treatments, including radiotherapy (RT), should be recommended after surgical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We retrospectively enrolled 325 gastric cancer (GC) patients to investigate the associations of programmed death ligand‐1 (PD‐L1) expression with clinicopathological characteristics by different scoring methods and different cutoff values. PD‐L1 expression was evaluated by the tumor proportion score (TPS) and the combined positive score (CPS). The positive rate of PD‐L1 TPS ≥1%, CPS ≥1, CPS ≥5 and CPS ≥10 in our study were 12.0%, 87.4%, 69.8% and 42.2%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that PD‐L1 CPS ≥5 was related to high expression of Ki67 (OR = 2.658, 95% CI: 1.401–5.045, p = .003) and pTNM staging (p = .033). PD‐L1 CPS ≥10 was correlated with larger tumor size (OR = 2.322, 95% CI: 1.052–5.127, p = .037) and lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.495, 95% CI: 1.293–4.814, p = .006). It is expected that these results can provide a reference for screening GC patients with high PD‐L1 expression level.

Active Learning techniques, designed to make the students active and collaborative participants in the learning process, are gaining popularity as a supplement and alternative to traditional lectures. The purpose of this paper is to assess and evaluate the use of TPS as an active learning technique in the urban land use planning class of the surveying engineering department. Quantitative research was deployed. The class has a 50-sample size. The results of students’ average result of the pretest (without TPS) and posttest using the Think Pair Share (TPS) method has increased from 8.975(44.98%) to 11.43(58.23%) out of 20(100%). The normalized gain for each student is 0.24(i.e. low and better than the pretest), but the value denotes a positive gain in the performance of the student’s result. The witnessed level of satisfaction of students with this teaching intervention showed that the students have positively perceived that the use of the lecture method is not enough to learn urban land use planning courses effectively. On the other hand, the result of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient data analysis of the witnessed level of satisfaction of students with TPS teaching intervention for the ten items is 0.797, suggesting that the items have relatively high internal consistency. So the majority of the respondents' students perceived the use of TPS as active learning is more essential than the traditional lecture.

Production systems are one of the main pillars of the enterprises. Their efficiency and principles of func-tioning determine the final quality of products, which recipients are institutions and end consumers. However, nowadays, in addition to the previously mentioned issues, new requirements related to the concept of sustainability have appeared. Production methods, impact on the natural environment, or respect for the human being have become as important aspects as durability or product price. The aim of the following paper is to present a comparison of two production systems which are very popular, especially in the automotive industry: Toyota Production System and World Class Manufacturing in the context of sustainable development. For this purpose, a comparative analysis based on four categories: system complexity, popularity, universality and connections with suitability. The collected material is diverse in nature, which allows for a wide spectrum of research and comparison of both solutions. As a result of the analysis, differences in the level of complication of both production solutions can be noticed. The Toyota Production System structure is less complicated than World Class Manufacturing. The model representation of the TPS system shows all the main components along with their most important features and applications. WCM is a system with a more complicated structure, specifying more aspects necessary for implementation and maintenance. In the case of the popularity of both solutions, the study showed that the most frequently searched phrase is Toyota Production System, but World Class Manufacturing has more publications and materials. Both systems are highly versatile production solutions. The analyzed case studies show successful implementations in manufacturing and service companies in industries not related to the automotive industry. Referring to compliance with the determinants of suitability, it can be stated that both systems contain elements responsible for the implementation of the abovementioned provisions, but they implement them in different ways. TPS does not refer to the concept of sustainable development, but the system itself has issues focused on the reduction of losses, savings, production of only the components needed at a given moment, or respect for people. WCM, on the other hand, has a dedicated element re-sponsible for meeting the requirements of the ISO 14000 standard, relating to environmental impact management. Finally, it can be assumed that both systems have many common features, e.g. in the case of functional assumptions, but the implementation is of a different nature. TPS is a simpler system that allows you to easily adapt to the specifics of the organization. WCM is a more complicated system with a high degree of formalization. The analysis performed is of a review nature, showing the possibly wide spectrum of both production systems. Research can be further pursued through more detailed analyzes of each aspect of the systems or comparisons with other manufacturing solutions.

The competitive advantage driven by Japanese production systems is one of the key success factors of the Japanese economy. The core of Japanese production systems is same whereas they can have different names like TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) or TPS (Toyota Production system) or lean management. They are more human-centered cultural systems rather than just target-oriented mechanical processes. The technical tools used in Japanese production systems, as kaizen, Hoshin Kanri, 5S, suggestion systems, one-point lessons, PDCA cycle, JIT and Jidoka can run properly with the condition that certain principles are effective as a part of company culture. These principles were inherited from the spiritual and moral values of Confucianism and Taoism. In this article these principles were classified as sharing the same value, succeeding together, being selfless and humble, having the passion for learning and development, horizontal process organization, and continuous improvement. The relation between the production systems, the classified six principles and the core values of Confucianism and Taoism were examined. Relying on these six principles, companies can establish a culture where production systems run sustainably and high performance, innovation and agility nurtures.