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The paper analyzes a numerical model of an "active medium" with linear elasticity and a negative initial dissipation constant dynamically renormalized under deformation. The analysis shows that such a system, being seemingly unstable over a wide range of geometries and origins of deformation, can spontaneously reach stable dynamic modes in which its time- and space-alternating dissipation forms complex quasiperiodic patterns and its total volume (length, area) oscillates on a large scale. The results presented in the paper are of interest in academic terms and in terms of mechanical and biological application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to establish the correlation between morphometric traits and carcass yield as well as predict carcass yield from morphometric traits in three strains of broiler chicken. The morphometric traits studied were Wing length (WL), Keel length (KL), Thigh length (TL), Body girth (BG) and Body height (BH), while the carcass yield were dressed weight (DRSWT), thigh weight (TWT) and breast weight (BRSWT). A total of 144 birds were divided into three treatment groups according to strains and each group was randomly replicated four times with 12 birds per replicate. The data obtained were subjected to correlation analysis, linear and multiple regression analyses were also used to predict body weight and carcass yield from morphometric traits. The results showed that the correlation between body weight, morphometric traits and carcass traits were significantly positive (p<0.001) with correlation coefficient ranging from 0.068 - 0.993, 0.216 - 0.882 and 0.027 - 0.990 in Arbor Acres, Ross 308 and Cobb 500 respectively. The correlation between breast weight and all morphometric traits were positive and significantly high (p<0.001) in all the three strains of broiler studied. suggesting dependency among these traits. Simple linear regression equation predicted carcass yield from morphometric traits in all the three strains, as R2 value computed using each morphometric trait in the three strains were above 50%. However, inclusion of more than one trait in the regression model increased the accuracy of prediction. It could be recommended that more than one trait should be included in the regression model for greater accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Considering the fact that COVID-19 has undergone various changes over time, its symptoms have also varied. The aim of this study is to describe and compare the changes in personal characteristics, symptoms, and underlying conditions of individuals infected with different strains of COVID-19. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 46,747 patients who underwent PCR testing during a two-year period from February 22, 2020 to February 23, 2022, in South Khorasan province, Iran. Patient characteristics and symptoms were extracted based on self-report and the information system. The data were analyzed using logistic regression and artificial neural network approaches. The R software was used for analysis and a significance level of 0.05 was considered for the tests. Results: Among the 46,747 cases analyzed, 23,239 (49.7%) were male, and the mean age was 51.48 ± 21.41 years. There was a significant difference in symptoms among different variants of the disease (p < 0.001). The factors with a significant positive association were myalgia (OR: 2.04; 95% CI, 1.76 – 2.36), cough (OR: 1.93; 95% CI, 1.68—2.22), and taste or smell disorder (OR: 2.62; 95% CI, 2.1 – 3.28). Additionally, aging was found to increase the likelihood of testing positive across the six periods. Conclusion: We found that older age, myalgia, cough and taste/smell disorder are better factors compared to dyspnea or high body temperature, for identifying a COVID-19 patient. As the disease evolved, chills and diarrhea, demonstrated prognostic strength as in Omicron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conditions for stresses and strains on the front of transformation of a material into a growing body are formulated. They allow one to solve problems on the stress–strain state of the material both ahead and on the rear of the front. As examples of such transformations, the solidification of great metal or polymer casts, the growth of bodies from a gas or liquid phase, growth of planets, and the formation of polycrystalline structures can be mentioned. The solutions of such problems are compared with those obtained by a discrete theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on thermoelectric materials – with their vast potential for applications in solid-state cooling or energy-conversion devices – has so far mainly focused on enhancing their conversion efficiency. However, understanding and tailoring the mechanical performance of thermoelectric modules and devices is crucial for their long-term use, as they are subjected to spatially-complex and time-varying thermomechanical stresses – both internal and external – which may lead to plastic, fatigue and/or creep deformation. This leads to changes in thermoelectric performance, dimensions (via strain accumulation) and mechanical integrity (via crack and pore formation, leading to failure). This review addresses the current understanding of various modes of stress-induced deformation that can take place during extended operation of thermoelectric materials and their impact on the strain (elastic, plastic, and creep), and the associated damage (bloating, fatigue, and fracture). Finally, some new areas of research straddling mechanical and thermoelectric behaviour are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimizing the buried interface carrier nonradiative recombination loss has been a great challenge in the field of perovskite solar cells. Herein, a multifunctional chemical‐bridging strategy is reported where the α‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) molecule with multiple functional groups including −COOH, −OH, and −C ≡ N is adopted to manipulate buried interface. Due to simultaneous interaction of multiple groups in CHCA with SnO2 and perovskite layers, interfacial contact is ameliorated. The double‐sided chemical anchoring by CHCA enables interfacial defect passivation, residual tensile strain mitigation, reduced interfacial energy barrier, and improved perovskite crystallization. Through this ingenious chemical‐linking strategy, the power conversion efficiency is much increased from 21.26% to 23.02%, which is owing to much suppressed buried interface nonradiative recombination. The unsealed modified devices demonstrate enhanced moisture stability, degrading by less than 6% after 1500 h of aging under the relative humidity range of 15–20%. In this work, a way for minimizing buried interfacial nonradiative recombination losses through the rational design of versatile chemical‐bridging molecules with the synergy of multiple functional groups is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of the study are aimed at developing a nonlinear strain model for reinforced concrete beam elements in the general case of force actions and temperature effects for different durations. As a rule, temperature effects on structures involve temperature drops, causing heterogeneity of mechanical and rheological properties of concrete and reinforcement. The article has approximating expressions needed to take into account the effects of temperature and heating time on the values of temperature-induced strain and mechanical and rheological properties of heavy concretes with C30–C60 strength classes. The properties of concrete and rebars are heterogeneous from top to bottom and across the width of the cross section. A physically nonlinear problem is solved using the method of elastic solutions combined with the method of stepwise increases in temperature and force loading. The cooling of a heated reinforced concrete element to normal temperature is considered a short-term effect. Strength criteria of portions of a concrete cross section, crack closure conditions, and the ability of cracked sections to take loads in compression amid a change in the sign of stresses are determined. The stress–strain state (SSS) analysis of reinforced concrete beams, made according to the proposed method, is compared with the experimental studies using (i) values of thermal bending moments in statically indeterminate structures, (ii) cracking forces, and (iii) values of deformations (elongations and curvatures) of the elements in the longitudinal axis. Good agreement between the calculated and experimental values of controllable criteria confirms the reliability of physical relationships (i) developed for heterogeneous reinforced concrete beam elements and (ii) applied to the complex cases of temperature and force effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fragile bottom side of perovskite films is demonstrated to be harmful to the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) because the carrier extraction and recombination can be significantly influenced by the easily formed strain, voids, and defects on the bottom side. Nevertheless, the bottom side of perovskite films is usually overlooked because it remains a challenge to directly characterize and modify the bottom side. Herein, a facile and effective strategy is reported to stabilize the bottom side via preburying cesium formate (CsFo) into the SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL). It is found that the synergistic effect of cesium cation (Cs+) and formate anion (HCOO−) causes strain relaxation, void elimination, and defects' reduction, which further facilitate the charge extraction. Consequently, the champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of formamidinium (FA)‐based PSCs is increased from 23.34% to 24.50%. Meanwhile, the ultraviolet (UV), thermal, and operational stability are also enhanced. Finally, formamidinium–cesium (FACs)‐based PSCs are investigated to confirm the effectiveness of this preburied CsFo strategy, and the optimal device exhibits a champion PCE of 25.03% and a remarkably high fill factor (FF) of 85.65%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are regarded as the most promising new generation of green energy technology due to their outstanding device performance and simple processing technology. The strain in the active layer of PSCs is primarily caused by lower interionic and intercrystal forces, leading to an increase in defect density and high recombination of carriers, which can negatively impact the performance and stability of perovskite devices. Herein, the origins of strain in perovskite film of solution processing are revealed by conducting strain tests and characterizing photophysical processes. The impacts of strain on optical and electrical properties are summarized, including its effects on molecular interaction force, band structure, defect formation energy, activation energy of ion migration, phase segregation, and phase transition. To mitigate these negative effects, the review introduces several methods for modulating strain in perovskite films, including crystallization, component tailoring, adding additives, and modifying contact layers, which are aimed at improving carrier transport and collection efficiency. It is believed that these approaches will provide scientists with new ways of thinking and system schemes for improving the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasound-based ligament strain estimation shows promise in non-invasively assessing knee joint collateral ligament behavior and improving ligament balancing procedures. However, the impact of ultrasound-based strain estimation residual errors on in-silico arthroplasty predictions remains unexplored. We investigated the sensitivity of post-arthroplasty kinematic predictions to ultrasound-based strain estimation errors compared to clinical inaccuracies in implant positioning.Two cadaveric legs were submitted to active squatting, and specimen-specific rigid computer models were formulated. Mechanical properties of the ligament model were optimized to reproduce experimentally obtained tibiofemoral kinematics and loads with minimal error. Resulting remaining errors were comparable to the current state-of-the-art. Ultrasound-derived strain residual errors were then introduced by perturbing lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) stiffness. Afterwards, the implant position was perturbed to match with the current clinical inaccuracies reported in the literature. Finally, the impact on simulated post-arthroplasty tibiofemoral kinematics was compared for both perturbation scenarios. Ultrasound-based errors minimally affected kinematic outcomes (mean differences < 0.73° in rotations, 0.1 mm in translations). Greatest differences occurred in external tibial rotations (−0.61° to 0.73° for MCL, −0.28° to 0.27° for LCL). Comparatively, changes in implant position had larger effects, with mean differences up to 1.95° in external tibial rotation and 0.7 mm in mediolateral translation. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the ultrasound-based assessment of collateral ligament strains has the potential to enhance current computer-based pre-operative knee arthroplasty planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification and characterization of Bacillus spp. will provide insights into the potential sources of contamination and contribute to developing effective prevention measures. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate and diagnose the prevalence of Bacillus spp. contamination of locally produced juices, as well as to evaluate the antibacterial ability of honey against Bacillus spp. One hundred random samples were collected from juices locally made in different places like Ta'meem, Al-Andalus, Al-Ramadi Market, Al-Mal'ab, and AlSufaya. Various agricultural media were used to isolate strains of Bacillus spp. and determined based on biochemical and cultural characteristics. Additionally, to assess the antibacterial properties of honey, samples were used at (75, 50, and 25%) dilutions and undiluted. The results showed that different species of Bacillus spp highly contaminated the locally produced juices. The most prevalent species were B. cereus, B. subtilis, and other Bacillus spp. the most contaminated types of juice were grape and banana juices. The results also showed that natural honey exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against B. cereus. At the same time, it didn’t affect B. coagulans and B. sphaericus. The findings will help raise awareness about the quality of juice products in the region and provide insights into potential public health risks associated with Bacillus spp. contamination. Honey can be used instead of other medications to treat various diseases, particularly those brought on by bacteria resistant to antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plum pox virus (PPV) is considered the most detrimental viral pathogen of stone fruits, causing important economic losses. Exhaustive studies revealed that D, M and Rec are the prevalent strains of PPV in Europe. While different experimental reports revealed that PPV-M is more aggressive than PPV-D, limited information is available about the competitiveness of PPV-Rec under field conditions. Also, symptoms developed by PPV-Rec infection are scarcely documented. To increase this knowledge, we selected and monitored an experimental plum orchard already contaminated by both PPV-D and PPV-Rec. The disease spread was monitored by visual observation and ELISA testing each year along five consecutive vegetative periods. The dynamic of single and mixed infections was assessed by molecular strain typing (IC-RT-PCR) of all newly and single-infected trees. While the disease prevalence increased almost linearly, the number of single PPV infected trees (either by PPV-Rec or by PPV-D) remained relatively stable during the five-year period of monitoring, which is explainable by the continual increase of the number of trees infected with both strains together. No significant difference in the progression rate between D and Rec strains was found when considering their presence in both single and mixed infections. Although the types of PPV symptoms developed on leaves and fruits varied among cultivars, no clear-cut D or Rec strain-specific symptoms were developed within the same cultivar. Overall results revealed that PPV-D and PPV-Rec strains had similar behaviour in terms of competitiveness and symptoms developed under our experimental field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary metabolites synthesized by the producer Streptomyces are widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, textile, and agricultural industries. These industries around the world are developing rapidly, as a result of which they need new engineering solutions that should increase the yield of the final product and optimize the production process. Understanding the dependence of the optimal correlation of the components of the nutrient medium on the increase in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites by the producer Streptomyces will promote the development of these industries in economic and ecological aspects. In this study, we optimized the quantitative correlation of twelve (6+6) components of the nutrient fermentation medium for Streptomyces recifensis var. lyticus 2P-15. Foroptimization we used the simplex method of mathematical modeling of the optimization conditions of the biotechnological process. After optimization, a 6.36 times increase in the level of biosynthetic capacity was obtained compared to the control version of the medium. To determine the dynamics of biosynthesis, samples of culture fluid were taken. Sampling was carried out every 24 hours of cultivation, the dynamics of pH diapason, biomass accumulation in mg/ml and amylolytic activity in U/mL were determined. The correlation of amylolytic activity to the level of biomass accumulation was taken as the biosynthetic capacity of the strain. A photocolometric method based on the starch-iodine method was used to determine amylolytic activity. The volume of biomass accumulation was determined by a weighted method. As a result of the optimization, the composition of the nutrient medium was developed, in which the degree of synthesis of amylolytic enzymes increased by 6.11 times, and there was a significant increase in biomass accumulation, while the cost of the optimized medium was reduced by 1.5–2.0 times from the initial one. Positive dynamics were studied when new components were introduced into the environment, such as sodium glutamate and corn extract. Optimum concentrations of monosodium glutamate were established at 0.5% of the volume of the nutrient medium and corn extract at a concentration of 1%, respectively. The significance of the positive effect upon the introduction of heavy metal ions and some vitamins into the medium was also checked, the obtained results provide an opportunity for further research into these aspects of the composition of the nutrient medium. The advantage of biotechnological developments in matters of industrial enzymology is the opportunity to obtain not only raw materials for the pharmaceutical or other industries (where it will only acquire a final form), but also produce as a final product in a ready, convenient form. Enzyme preparations of microbial origin, which can be obtained from the studied strain, have unique properties (efficiency and specificity of action, non-toxicity, ability to work in mild conditions, to process various raw materials of plant and animal origin), in connection with which their use in industry will be profitable from the economic and ecological point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the paper was to design geometric models of the movable connection made of brass for three different attachment options and three different loads. The numerical analysis of the mechanical properties, stresses, strains and displacements using the finite element method was carried out in SolidWorks 2020 and their comparative analysis was performed. The computer simulations performed will allow the boundary conditions that directly affect the mechanical properties of the engineering materials to be optimised [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic forming is applied to form metal sheet parts from both non-ferrous and ferrous materials. In this paper, the electromagnetic forming behavior of aluminum alloy, copper and steel sheets was investigated through experiments. The disk-shaped specimens were electromagnetically free bulged with increasing deformation energies and parts with different deformation depths were obtained. The deformation was done with and without clamping the movement of the specimens' edges. The specimens were printed with a mesh of diametrical lines and concentric circles with a predetermined pitch. The mesh served to determine the displacements in the mesh nodes after the deformation of the specimens, with which the axial, radial and circumferential strains were then calculated. The experimental data obtained was subjected to statistical correlation and regression analyses, and the mathematical models for the three main strains in each material were established. The strains of AlMn0.5Mg0.5 and Cu-OF parts are maximum in the center and have a similar variation, while the FeP04 parts have the maximum strains in an intermediate zone between the center and the edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to establish the relationships among growth performance traits in three strains (Arbor Arce, Ross 308 and Cobb 500) of broiler chicken. A total of 144-day old chicks were assigned to three experimental treatments according to strain each treatment was further replicated four times with 12 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. The experiment lasted for eight weeks. The growth performance parameters measured were initial body weight (IBW), final body weight (FBW), daily weight gain (DWG), total weight gain (TWG), daily feed intake (DFI), total feed intake (TFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Data collected both at starter (1-4weeks) and finisher (5-8 weeks) phases were subjected to analyses of variance and correlation analysis to establish the relationship among the performance traits. The results indicated that there were significant (p < 0.05) differences in all the parameters measured in the starter phase except initial body weight with cobb 500 being superior to Abor Acre and Ross. In the finisher phase, there were also significant (p < 0.05) differences in all the parameters measured except DFI and TFI. The correlation coefficients among the performance traits in the starter phase were positive except the relation between growth performance traits and FCR which were significantly (p < 0.05) negative. FBW had a perfect relation with TWG and DFI in the three strains studied. In the finisher phase, high, positive and highly significant (p < 0I) correlation coefficients were observed between IBW and FBW (r = 0.78) IBW with TWG and DWG ( r = 0.611 and 0.652 respectively) and a perfect correlation (r = 1) was observed between DWG and TWG in Arbor Arce strain. Similar relationships were also obtained in Ross and Cobb. The relationship between FCR and all other growth parameters were significantly (p < 0.05) negative. It was concluded that that the significant positive correlation among the performance traits in the three strains of broiler chicken is a good indication of dependency among these traits. Therefore, improvement in one will lead to a corresponding improvement in the other traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of technological tools, namely affordable sensors for data collection, and the growing concerns about maintaining roads in adequate conditions have promoted the development of continuous pavement monitoring systems. This paper presents the installation and use of an innovative pavement monitoring system, which was developed to measure the effects of vehicle loads and temperature on the performance of a pavement structure. The sensors used are based on fibre Bragg grating optical technology, collecting data about the strains imposed in the pavement and the temperature at which those measurements are made. The site selection for the system's installation and the essential installation details to ensure successful data collection are addressed. A calibration procedure was implemented by performing falling weight deflectometer tests and passing preweighed heavy vehicles over the sensors. In addition to validating the system installation, the results obtained in the calibration confirmed the importance of adequately choosing the distance between sensors. Differences of 50 mm in the position of the load may cause differences of about 20% to 25% in the resulting strains. These results confirmed the importance of increasing the sensor concentration in wheel paths. Furthermore, for loads between 25 kN and 65 kN, raising the temperature by 8 °C caused an increase of about 20% in the horizontal tensile strains measured in the pavement. In summary, it was possible to conclude that this innovative system is capable of capturing the effects of temperature and vehicle speed on the response of the pavement, which may be considered an advantage of this type of monitoring system when compared to those that are only used to determine the loads applied to the pavement or to characterise the type of vehicle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—An experimental and theoretical study of the fatigue failure of samples made of a polycarbonate filament by 3D printing is carried out. The Weibull model is used to construct an approximating dependence of the maximum stress in a cycle on the number of cycles to failure, and the model parameters are determined. To estimate the self-heating of polycarbonate during cyclic loading, hysteresis loops on stress diagrams are considered, and data on changes in the thermal state of products during fatigue failure are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim: to study the pathogenicity of non-pigmented P. aeruginosa isolates compared to those that synthesize pigment during long-term storage for broiler chickens. Materials and methods. Bacteriological studies were carried out in accordance with generally accepted methods. Initially, P. aeruginosa and other bacterial microflora were isolated from poultry farms, pathological material from poultry. The type of microorganisms was identified using Bergey's identifier. The obtained isolates were examined by morphological characteristics (according to Gram), tincture, cultural, biochemical, pathogenic properties and sensitivity of selected cultures to antibiotics were studied. After the expiration of 3 years, the main biological properties of the isolates were monitored. To establish pathogenic properties, a bioassay was performed on white mice and one-week-old broiler chickens of the Cobb 500 cross (intraperitoneally by washout from daily agar culture at a dose of 0.2 cm³, which corresponds to the previously established LD50). The results. With parenteral infection by washout from agar daily culture of pigmentless isolates at a dose of LD50, chickens died within the first - second day, in this case 87.50 % of the cultures showed pathogenicity. Experimental parenteral infection with washings from a daily culture of pigmented isolates of P. aeruginosa at a dose of LD50 led to the death of one-week-old chickens within 24-48 hours, in this case 75.00 % of the isolates showed pathogenicity. Clinical and pathological signs of infection with pigmented and non-pigmented P. aeruginosa isolates were similar. Conclusions. A comparative analysis of cases of pathogenicity of non-pigmented and pigmented isolates of P. aeruginosa on one-week-old broiler chickens of the Cobb-500 cross was carried out. In the experiment, we found that among the non-pigmented isolates, compared to the pigmented pathogenic isolates, 12.5 % more were detected in chickens. This emphasizes the importance of differential diagnosis for pseudomonosis, because infection with non-pigmented strains often goes undiagnosed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many types of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS), mutations cause proteins to gain toxic properties that mediate neurodegenerative processes. It is becoming increasingly clear that the proteins involved in ALS, and those responsible for a host of other neurodegenerative diseases, share many characteristics with a growing number of prion diseases. ALS is a heterogenous disease in which the majority of cases are sporadic in their etiology. Studies investigating the inherited forms of the disease are now beginning to provide evidence that some of this heterogeneity may be due to the existence of distinct conformations that ALS-linked proteins can adopt to produce the equivalent of prion strains. In this review, we discuss the in vitro and in vivo evidence that has been generated to better understand the characteristics of these proteins and how their tertiary structure may impact the disease phenotype.

Objectives In 2021, the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine was analyzed among people living in the Honam region (Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, Jeollabuk-do, and Jeju) of the Republic of Korea. And we investigated changes in the dominant virus strain. Methods This study used the data provided by the Korean Ministry of the Interior and Safety for individuals ≥12 years old in the Honam region, and the Integrated Disease and Health Management System of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for COVID-19-vaccinated individuals as of December 31, 2021. Statistical analyzes were performed using IBM SPSS ver. 23.0. The occurrence of confirmed cases by vaccination status, the relative risk, and vaccine effectiveness by vaccine type were calculated. Results In 2021, the COVID-19 vaccination rate in Honam was 88.6%. The overall vaccine effectiveness (after 2 and 3 doses) was 98.7% (p98%, and the effect among persons who received 2 doses was >90% regardless of the vaccine type. Although vaccine effectiveness decreased because of reduced antibody levels over time (as observed in breakthrough infections), receiving a booster dose restored the neutralizing antibody levels.

The use of pure microbial cultures is associated with the following key challenges: storage, transportation and resuscitation after a long-term preservation. The currently used anthrax vaccines are produced using various strains of Bacillus anthracis. According to the storage passport data, anthrax strains are now stored in 30–40% glycerin solutions, which helps to preserve a sufficient number of viable cells without losses to their pathogenic properties for three years. It is obviously an urgent task to develop a long-term preservation technique for Bacillus anthracis strains. The aim of this study was to optimize a low-temperature preservation method for Bacillus anthracis strains that ensures viability and no losses to biological properties of the pathogen. Two vaccine strains of Bacillus anthracis were selected for the research: i.e. K-STI-79 and 55-VNIIVViM and two cryoprotective media (No. 1 – 15% glycerin solution with 15% glucose solution and No. 2 – 30% neutral glycerin solution in saline solution). At first biological properties of the strains were studied and the number of viable cells was calculated. Later on, the strains were placed into low-temperature preservation facilities, at the temperature of –40 and –70 °C. Six months later, the effect of three thawing cycles on viability and biological properties of the agent was tested: i.e. at room temperature (22 ± 2) °C, in a water bath at a temperature of (37 ± 1) °C and in a household refrigerator at a temperature of (6 ± 2) °C. As demonstrated, the best option is to preserve the cells at –70 °C and thaw them in a water bath at (37 ± 1) °C. Further research will be focused on duration of the low-temperature preservation that will ensure appropriate viability and biological properties of the pathogen.

The study was during which the seeds of triple hybrids were produced by deriving individual hybrids by introducing 6 strains into the half-diallel cross-breeding program, resulting 15 genotypes. In the second season the hybrid seeds were planted Individuals with two strains for the purpose of developing triple hybrids. During the third season, all 48 genotypes were planted according to the randomized complete block design with three replications, service operations were conducted for the crop from irrigation, fertilization, weeding and control whenever needed. The result showed that the triple hybrid (3×1)b was significantly superior to all genotypes for the plant height reached 140.66 cm, and for the number of leaves per plant, the triple hybrid (2×1)b had the highest number of leaves over all the genotypes, which scored 137.9 leaf-1. For the number of fruits and plant yield, the triple hybrid (6×5)a showed significant superiority over all the genotypes within the experiment by recording 43.20 fruits of the plant-1 and 7.921 kg of the plant-1, respectively and the superiority of the triple hybrids (6×2)b and (5×4)a significantly over the rest of the compounds with the highest percentage of carbohydrates amounting to 10.363% and 10.325%, respectively, while the hybrids (6×5)a, (3×2)a, (3×1)a and (5×4)a recorded the highest Significant values ​​of sugars were 16.993%, 16.880%, 16.833% and 16.813%, respectively.

In late 2019, an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology was reported in Wuhan (China). The causative agent was quickly identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although the impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) on various organs and symptoms has been studied, there is still a dearth of data regarding its effect on the genitourinary system. In this study, we investigated the impact of different COVID-19 strains on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). A total of 69 patients who had previously been infected with COVID-19 from August 2021 to October 2021 and January 2022 to May 2022 were assessed. The two periods were purposively selected based on the dominant COVID-19 variant: the Delta strain for the first period and Omicron for the second, respectively. All patients had BPH and were followed up in two outpatient practices. Demographic information was collected, and LUTS were assessed using the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) questionnaires before and after COVID-19. Ultrasound examinations were performed to determine the prostate gland volume and the post-voided residual (PVR) in each patient. All patients affected by COVID-19 exhibited a worsening of LUTS. The degree of deterioration differed between those infected with different COVID-19 strains. Patients infected with the Delta strain had more severe LUTS than those with the Omicron strain. There is currently limited information available regarding the emerging pathophysiological processes in the urogenital system related to COVID-19. This present study serves as a preliminary investigation into the impact of COVID-19 on LUTS in BPH patients and could serve as a basis for more extensive multicenter studies leading to fundamental discoveries.

An experiment was conducted to estimate growth parameters for commercial broiler chickens in Indonesia. The data was collected from July 2021 to June 2022. A total of 1,570 samples consisting of four strains of broiler chickens were collected from 74 houses. The samples were daily weighed from 0 to 7 days of age, and they were weekly weighed from 1 to 5 weeks of age. A nonlinear Gompertz growth model was fitted to the observed body weights (BW). The results for five growth parameters were as follows: the asymptotic value (A) of the mature live weight ranged from 3.733 to 5.044 kg; the turning point of growth (B) ranged from 4.499 to 4.561; the value growth rate constant (K) ranged from 0.049 to 0.059 kg/week; Inflection points in ranged from 25.292 – 30.970 days, and 1.373 – 1.855 kg for inflection age (IA) and inflection weight (IW), respectively. The model was an excellent fit for the growth data in the commercial broiler with a low Akaike information criterion (AIC), and high coeffi-cient determination (R2).

Abstract Background Chloroquine (CQ) has been the preferred clinical treatment for vivax malaria in Yunnan Province since 1958, with over 300,000 patients. This study aimed to help make trend predictions regarding variations the in anti-malarial drug susceptibility of Plasmodium vivax distributed in Yunnan Province and effectively implement monitoring measures on the efficacy of anti-malarial drugs for vivax malaria. Methods Blood samples collected from patients with mono-P. vivax infections were employed in this study based on the principle of cluster sampling. The whole gene of P. vivax multidrug resistance 1 protein gene (pvmdr1) was amplified by nested-PCR techniques and the PCR amplification produce were sequenced by Sanger bidirectional sequencing. The mutant loci and haplotypes of coding DNA sequence (CDS) were identified by comparison with the reference sequence (NC_009915.1) of the P. vivax Sal I isolate. Parameters such as Ka/Ks ratio were calculated using MEGA 5.04 software. Results A total of 753 blood samples from patients infected with mono-P. vivax were collected, of which 624 blood samples yielded the full gene sequence (4392 bp) of the pvmdr1 gene, with 283, 140, 119, and 82 sequences from 2014, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. A total of 52 single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) loci were detected for the 624 CDSs, of which 92.3% (48/52), 34.6% (18/52), 42.3% (22/52), and 36.5% (19/52) SNPs were detected in 2014, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. All of 624 CDSs were defined for a total of 105 mutant haplotypes, with CDSs of 2014, 2020, 2021, and 2022 containing 88, 15, 21, and 13 haplotypes, respectively. Of the 105 haplotypes, the threefold mutant haplotype (Hap_87) was the starting point for stepwise evolution, and the most drastic tenfold mutations were Hap_14 and Hap_78, and the fivefold, sixfold, sevenfold, and eightfold mutations. Conclusions In the majority of vivax malaria cases in Yunnan Province, most of them were infected with strains carrying demonstrating highly mutated in pvmdr1 genes. However, the dominant mutation strains types varied from year to year, which warrants further exploration in order to confirm the correlation between with phenotypic changes in P. vivax strains and their susceptibility to anti-malarial drugs such as chloroquine.

Background: For the past 30 years, the hamstring (H)-to-quadriceps (Q) (H:Q) torque ratio has been considered an important index of muscle strength imbalance around the knee joint. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the value of H:Q torque ratio as an independent risk factor for hamstring and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Methods: Database searches were performed to identify all relevant articles in PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and Scopus. Prospective studies evaluating the conventional (concentric H:Q), functional (eccentric H: concentric Q), and mixed (eccentric H at 30°/s: concentric Q at 240°/s) H:Q ratios as risk factors for occurrence of hamstring muscle strain or ACL injury were considered. Risk of bias was assessed using the Quality In Prognosis Studies tool. Results: Eighteen included studies reported 585 hamstrings injuries in 2945 participants, and 5 studies documented 128 ACL injuries in 2772 participants. Best evidence synthesis analysis indicated that there is very limited evidence that H:Q strength ratio is an independent risk factor for hamstring and ACL injury, and this was not different between various ratio types. Methodological limitations and limited evidence for ACL injuries and some ratio types might have influenced these results. Conclusion: The H:Q ratio has limited value for the prediction of ACL and hamstring injuries. Monitoring strength imbalances along with other modifiable factors during the entire competitive season may provide a better understanding of the association between H:Q ratio and injury.

Respiratory diseases are a problem for the pig industry in all countries engaged in pig breeding and industrial pork production. Actinobacillary pleuropneumonia of pigs is one of the most common bacterial respiratory diseases of pigs, which is recorded in almost all countries of the world. The losses from the disease include high morbidity (up to 20–30%), mortality (up to 100%), and a decrease in body weight, and hence productivity. Preclinical and clinical trials of the inactivated vaccine against actinobacillary pleuropneumonia of pigs «Actinopleurotoxal» were conducted at the laboratories of the Institute of Veterinary Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, as well as in a pig farm. Immunogenicity studies were conducted following the approved scientific documentation for the production and control of the drug. Laboratory studies of the vaccine’s immunogenicity confirmed sufficient immune protection of animals against the infectious agent, which amounted to 80–100%. The results of the production trials proved the effectiveness of the developed immunobiological product. For the experiment, 4 groups of experimental vaccinated animals were formed, consisting of 2 299 heads, and 4 control groups of unvaccinated animals, consisting of 2 316 heads. Vaccination was performed on piglets in growing, at the age of 40–45 days, revaccinated after 21 days at the age of 61–66 days. In the experimental groups of piglets after two-time vaccination, almost twice as many piglets were preserved, the percentage of transfer of heads for fattening increased by 2.3% (by 68 heads), and the average daily weight gain was higher in the experimental groups.

Abstract Elucidating the sources of a microbiome can provide insight into the ecological dynamics responsible for the formation of these communities. Source tracking approaches to date leverage species abundance information; however, single nucleotide variants (SNVs) may be more informative because of their high specificity to certain sources. To overcome the computational burden of utilizing all SNVs for a given sample, we introduce a novel method to identify signature SNVs for source tracking. Signature SNVs used as input into a previously designed source tracking algorithm, FEAST, can more accurately estimate contributions than species and provide novel insights, demonstrated in three case studies.

The Retinta breed, an autochthonous type of Spanish beef cattle, is highly adapted to breeding in its natural environment, which is characterized by a Mediterranean climate. The origins of this breed can be traced to two ancestral bovine stocks, which gave rise to distinct morphotypes differentiated primarily by coat color, alongside other significant traits such as growth, morphological conformation and temperament. Specifically, one morphotype comprises blond animals (Rubia Andaluza), genetically resembling the ancestral Bos taurus Aquitanicus, while the other encompasses brown- and red-colored animals (Retinta Extremeña) originating from Bos taurus Turdenatus stock. Over decades, these populations have undergone hybridization, leading to a unified population, albeit with the original subpopulations largely maintaining their genetic integrity. The objective of this study was to undertake genealogical and genomic characterization of these genetic lines, including a particular subpopulation within the blond animals (Tamarona cow). To achieve this, the genealogical records of 22,004 active animals were analyzed, and over 63,000 SNPs from a total of 1030 animals were examined for genomic characterization. Genealogical analysis revealed pedigree completeness and a high level of effective population size (Ne) across the entire population, yet relatively low Ne values within each pure line (ranging from 28.38 to 34.47). These findings underscore the ongoing efforts of the National Association of Retinta Breeders (ACRE) over the past decades to mitigate the loss of variability in this breed. The genomic characterization highlights the persistent differences within the original population and the predominant influence of the Retinto line within the current breed, as evidenced by principal component analysis (PCA) and admixture analysis. Furthermore, the identification of the Tamarona subpopulation within the blond lineage underlines its unique genetic composition, warranting its recognition as an official genetic line within the current Retinta breed. Given the small population size of these lines, particularly the Tamarona subpopulation, protective measures are imperative to preserve this distinct gene pool. Such measures would enhance the genetic diversity of the Retinta breed, which is essential for sustainable breeding practices in its natural habitats.

The shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) is globally valued for its nutrition and medicinal properties. New technologies aim to increase production with less environmental impact, considering materials such as charcoal for substrate enrichment. This manuscript evaluated the effect of fine charcoal (FC) on the substrate formulation of two L. edodes strains (LED 20/11 and LED 20/12). The substrate consisted of 72% eucalyptus sawdust, 12.5% rice bran, 12.5% wheat bran, and 3% calcium carbonate (control treatment without charcoal). Treatments with FC proportionally reduced the use of sawdust, with doses of 1%, 2%, 4%, 8%, and 16% (relative to the substrate material). Yield, mushroom number, and mushroom weight were evaluated. The concentration of FC significantly affected the parameters analyzed, especially at the 4% dose. A negative correlation between mushroom number and weight was observed. For yield, the control treatment and the lowest dose of FC (1%) had the highest yields for the first harvest. Strain LED 20/12 showed lower yield variability due to the percentage of FC applied to the substrate. The incorporation of FC into the substrate for shiitake cultivation demonstrates efficacy; however, both the concentration and strain used are limiting factors for its applicability.

Uterine disease in cattle impairs reproductive performance and profitability and increases antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance. Thus, probiotics offer a promising alternative therapy. This review presents conceptual findings on the efficacy of probiotics in managing uterine diseases and fertility in cows. Probiotics containing Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. individually or as composite formulations are known to improve fertility. Strategic intravaginal administration of these formulations would likely enhance uterine immunity, particularly during the postpartum period. While current findings on the benefits to uterine health are encouraging, there is still significant knowledge missing, including a lack of empirical information from large-scale field trials. This review underscores the need for evidence-based guidelines for probiotics, such as genomic selection of formulations, targeted delivery, or potential synergy with other interventions. Future research should address these gaps to maximize the potential of probiotics in managing uterine diseases and enhancing the reproductive health of dairy cattle.

Plum pox virus (PPV) is considered the most detrimental viral pathogen of stone fruits, causing important economic losses. Exhaustive studies revealed that D, M and Rec are the prevalent strains of PPV in Europe. While different experimental reports revealed that PPV-M is more aggressive than PPV-D, limited information is available about the competitiveness of PPV-Rec under field conditions. Also, symptoms developed by PPV-Rec infection are scarcely documented. To increase this knowledge, we selected and monitored an experimental plum orchard already contaminated by both PPV-D and PPV-Rec. The disease spread was monitored by visual observation and ELISA testing each year along five consecutive vegetative periods. The dynamic of single and mixed infections was assessed by molecular strain typing (IC-RT-PCR) of all newly and single-infected trees. While the disease prevalence increased almost linearly, the number of single PPV infected trees (either by PPV-Rec or by PPV-D) remained relatively stable during the five-year period of monitoring, which is explainable by the continual increase of the number of trees infected with both strains together. No significant difference in the progression rate between D and Rec strains was found when considering their presence in both single and mixed infections. Although the types of PPV symptoms developed on leaves and fruits varied among cultivars, no clear-cut D or Rec strain-specific symptoms were developed within the same cultivar. Overall results revealed that PPV-D and PPV-Rec strains had similar behaviour in terms of competitiveness and symptoms developed under our experimental field conditions.

Although line defects endow excellent catalytic performance by undercoordinated sites with compressive tensile strain, few studies have systematically unraveled the relationship between dislocation, strain, and electrochemical activity for formate oxidation reactions (FOR). Herein, a novel approach for synthesizing defect‐rich nanomaterials at room temperature is proposed for the first time. The heated and dealloyed AgPd nanoparticles (hd‐AgPd NPs) substantially improve the intrinsic electrocatalytic activity by introducing compressive strain to tune its electronic structure. Electrochemical experiments show that the mass activity of hd‐AgPd NPs for FOR is 5.3 times higher than that of pure Pd nanoparticle catalysts. Following a 3600 s chronoamperometric process, a portion of the dislocation vanishes, but the strain persists on the AgPd (111) facet. The mechanisms for activity enhancement are further explored through density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations, which show that compressive strain effectively alters its electronic structure and decreases the energy of the rate‐determining step during the reaction, significantly enhancing the FOR performance and stability. The results of electrochemical performance and physical characterization show that lattice strain has a more significant impact on FOR performance than alloying and preoxidation. This study presents a new approach to produce high‐performance catalysts by inducing strain into nanoparticles.

With the improvement of people's living standards, companion animals such as dogs and cats are loved by more and more families, and the demand for pet food has gradually changed from traditional food to functional food that can improve their health. Probiotics are a type of active microorganisms that can colonize animals. They can regulate the balance of intestinal flora, improve the health of animals, and promote nutrient absorption. This article reviews the definition of probiotics, strain selection criteria and their application in pet food, and analyzes the possible impact of different processing methods on probiotics, aiming to scientifically and rationally process functional food containing probiotics to ensure its biological activity provides ideas for improving pet health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alpha-synucleinopathies (α-synucleinopathies) such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are all characterized by aggregates of alpha-synuclein (α-syn), but display heterogeneous clinical and pathological phenotypes. The mechanism underlying this heterogeneity is thought to be due to diversity in the α-syn strains present across the diseases. α-syn obtained from the post-mortem brain of patients who lived with these conditions is heterogenous, and displays a different protease sensitivity, ultrastructure, cytotoxicity, and seeding potential. The primary aim of this review is to summarize previous studies investigating these concepts, which not only reflect the idea of different syn strains being present, but demonstrate that each property explains a small part of a much larger puzzle. Strains of α-syn appear at the center of the correlation between α-syn properties and the disease phenotype, likely influenced by external factors. There are considerable similarities in the properties of disease-specific α-syn strains, but MSA seems to consistently display more aggressive traits. Elucidating the molecular underpinnings of heterogeneity amongst α-synucleinopathies holds promise for future clinical translation, allowing for the development of personalized medicine approaches tackling the root cause of each α-synucleinopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The filamentous green alga Chaetomorpha ligustica (Cladophoraceae, Cladophorales) was recorded covering seagrass meadows at Pāuatahanui Inlet, New Zealand. Species of the genus Chaetomorpha are difficult to identify by their morphologically, and the identification of C. ligustica was confirmed by sequencing the 28S rRNA large subunit providing a high level of confidence in the species designation. In November 2019, we found C. ligustica intertwined with Ulva spp. forming dense, heavy and entangled structures. Here we report, for the first time, negative impacts of this species upon meadows of the New Zealand seagrass Zostera muelleri. We observed a significant loss of seagrass cover and evidence of anoxia under C. ligustica mats two weeks from the first sighting. Chaetomorpha ligustica can easily be misidentified in the field. This may lead to over- and under-reporting of species, and we recommend the need for more careful identification of macroalgal blooms in the future and further research on growth requirements and origins of strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental caries, a widespread oral infection affecting people worldwide, has significant societal impact due to its high prevalence. The issue of antibiotic resistance in the oral environment was investigated in rural areas in the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and biofilm development in the bacteria causing dental caries. Cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2021 and October 2022. Standardized questionnaires were used to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, behavioral habits, and clinical issues. The study included 900 individuals suspected of having dental caries, who were categorized into three groups based on their initial symptoms at the time of diagnosis. Among the patients, 61 % reported tooth discomfort only, 12 % experienced gum bleeding in addition to tooth discomfort, and 27 % had both problems. To assess the effectiveness of antibiotics and extracts against the identified pathogens, the collected samples were transferred to a microbiological laboratory. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 22. A statistically significant difference was concluded when the P-value was less than 0.05. Each strain possessed unique molecular and biochemical properties, allowing for their independent utilization without reliance on other strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early stage of an organism - embryonic stage, architects all the post embryonic developments which are governed by genetic and environmental conditions, but the effect of hot events during that stage remain obscure in the silkworm Bombyx mori L. Thus, APM1; a multivoltine parental breed of a ruling CB and APHO1 silkworm breed developed through induction of thermotolerance, and APHO1 breed to examine the impact of heat shock (HS) on the embryo and resultant larvae. Different developmental stages of embryo were exposed to varied HS temperatures for 2 h followed by a 2 h recovery period. After HS the eggs and the resultant larvae were reared under normal environmental conditions. Interestingly, 450C although determined as lethal temperature yielded vibrant larvae. Whereas APM1 and APHO1 eggs heat shocked at 350C exhibited increased hatching (91.66 and 69.33%), larval weight (1.72 and 3.33 g), effective rate of rearing (72.39 and 81.93%), cocoon weight (1.01 and1.6 g), shell weight (0.12 and 0.29 g), shell ratio (13.11 and 20.52%) and pupal weights (0.87 and1.29g) when compared to control APM1 and APHO1. Besides increased total protein content, expression of 205 kDa, 90 kDa and 70 kDa heat shock proteins and the glycogen content was found more on day - 3 compared to day - 2 in the embryos of APM1 and APHO1 which eventually declined as the embryonic development proceeded to hatching. This work shows that APM1 and APHO1 eggs had shown profound response to HS temperatures exhibiting varied acquired thermotolerance to overcome fluctuating environmental condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misfolded Aβ is involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the role of its polymorphic variants or conformational strains in AD pathogenesis is not fully understood. Here, we study the seeding properties of two structurally defined synthetic misfolded Aβ strains (termed 2F and 3F) using in vitro and in vivo assays. We show that 2F and 3F strains differ in their biochemical properties, including resistance to proteolysis, binding to strain‐specific dyes, and in vitro seeding. Injection of these strains into a transgenic mouse model produces different pathological features, namely different rates of aggregation, formation of different plaque types, tropism to specific brain regions, differential recruitment of Aβ40/Aβ42 peptides, and induction of microglial and astroglial responses. Importantly, the aggregates induced by 2F and 3F are structurally different as determined by ssNMR. Our study analyzes the biological properties of purified Aβ polymorphs that have been characterized at the atomic resolution level and provides relevant information on the pathological significance of misfolded Aβ strains. Synopsis: Two structurally defined Aβ conformational variants differ in their biochemical properties in vitro and induce different pathological features in a transgenic mouse model. Amyloid pathology induced by different Aβ strains is characterized by different tropism, morphology, and tinctorial properties.Synthetic Aβ fibrils (2F and 3F) preferentially seed Aβ40 while in vivo‐derived seeds have a preference to recruit Aβ42.Neuroinflammation induced in treated mice is Aβ strain specific.Seeded aggregates induced by structurally different Aβ strains in mice display different conformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza is a respiratory disease caused by the influenza virus, which is highly transmissible in humans. This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and test-negative designs (TNDs) to assess the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of seasonal influenza vaccines (SIVs) in humans aged 15 to 64 years. An electronic search to identify all relevant studies was performed. The outcome measure of interest was VE on laboratory-confirmed influenza (any strain). Quality assessment was performed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for RCTs and the ROBINS-I tool for TNDs. The search identified a total of 2993 records, but only 123 studies from 73 papers were included in the meta-analysis. Of these studies, 9 were RCTs and 116 were TNDs. The pooled VE was 48% (95% CI: 42–54) for RCTs, 55.4% (95% CI: 43.2–64.9) when there was a match between the vaccine and most prevalent circulating strains and 39.3% (95% CI: 23.5–51.9) otherwise. The TNDs' adjusted VE was equal to 39.9% (95% CI: 31–48), 45.1 (95% CI: 38.7–50.8) when there was a match and 35.1 (95% CI: 29.0–40.7) otherwise. The match between strains included in the vaccine and strains in circulation is the most important factor in the VE. It increases by more than 25% when there is a match with the most prevalent circulating strains. The laboratorial method for confirmation of influenza is a possible source of bias when estimating VE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) is a monopartite DNA virus with a genome size of ~ 2,800 base pairs. The virus belongs to the genus Begomovirus within the family Geminiviridae. Extant TYLCV strains are differentiated based on an established threshold of 94% genome-wide pairwise nucleotide identity. The phylogenetic relationships, diversification mechanisms, including recombination, and extent of spread within and from the center of origin for TYLCV have been reported in previous studies. However, the evolutionary relationships among strains, strains' distribution and genomic diversification, and genetic mechanisms shaping TYLCV strains' evolution have not been reevaluated to consider globally representative genome sequences in publicly available sequence database, including herein newly sequenced genomes from the U.S. and Middle East, respectively. In this study, full-length genome sequences for the extant strains and isolates of TYLCV (n=818) were downloaded from the GenBank database. All previously published genome sequences, and newly sequenced TYLCV genomes of TYLCV isolates from Kuwait and USA, determined herein (n=834), were subjected to recombination analysis. To remove the 'phylogenetic noise' imparted by interspecific recombination, the recombinant genomes were removed from the data set, and the remaining non-recombinant genome sequences (n=423) were subjected to population genetics and Bayesian analyses. Results of the phylogeographical analysis indicated that the type strain, TYLCV-Israel, and TYLCV-Mild strain, were globally distributed, spanning Africa, America, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, and New Caledonia, while the other TYLCV strains were prevalent only throughout the Middle East. The results of Bayesian evolutionary (ancestral) analysis predicted that TYLCV-Israel represents the oldest, most recent common ancestor (MRCA) (41,795 years), followed by TYLCV-Mild at 39,808 years. These were closely followed by two Iranian strains viz., TYLCV-Kerman and TYLCV-Iran at 37,529 and 36,420 years, respectively. In contrast, the most recently evolving strains were TYLCV-Kuwait and TYLCV-Kahnooj at 12,445 and 298 years, respectively. Results of the neutrality test indicated that TYLCV-Israel and TYLCV-Mild populations are undergoing purifying selection and/or population expansion, although statistically significant selection was documented for only TYLCV-Israel, based on positive selection acting on five codons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, layered chalcogenides have attracted interest for their appealing thermoelectric properties. We investigated the Ge2Sb2Te5 compound in two different stacking sequences, named stacking 1 (S1) and stacking 2 (S2), wherein the Ge and Sb atomic positions can be interchanged in the structure. The compound unit cell, comprising nine atoms, is made of two layers separated by a gap. We show, using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules, that the bonding across the layers has characteristics of transit region bonding, though with a close resemblance to closed-shell bonding. Both S1 and S2 are shown to bear a similar small gap. The full determination of their thermoelectric properties, including the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and electronic and lattice thermal conductivities, was carried out by solving the Boltzmann transport equation. We show that stacking 1 exhibits a larger Seebeck coefficient and smaller electrical conductivity than stacking 2, which is related to their small electronic gap difference, and that S1 is more suitable for thermoelectric application than S2. Moreover, under certain conditions of temperature and doping level, it could be possible to use S1-Ge2Sb2Te5 as both a p and n leg in a thermoelectric converter. Under biaxial, tensile and compressive strains, we observe that the thermoelectric properties are improved for both S1 and S2. Furthermore, the increase in the power factor of S1 in the cross-plane direction, namely perpendicular to the gap between the layers, shows that strains can counteract the electronic transport hindrance due to the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SnO2 as an electron transport layer (ETL) has been widely used in regular planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) owing to its high optical transmittance, less photocatalytic activity, and low‐temperature processing. However, SnO2‐based PSCs still face many challenges which greatly impair their efficiency and stability of PSCs. Herein, a novel and effective multifunctional modification strategy is proposed by incorporating streptomycin sulfate (STRS) molecules with multiple functional groups into SnO2 ETL. STRS can significantly suppress SnO2 nanoparticle agglomeration, improve the electronic property of SnO2, as well as reduce nonradiative recombination. At the same time, interfacial residual tensile stress is released and the interfacial energy level alignment becomes more matched. As a result, the STRS‐modified PSCs achieve a higher efficiency of 22.89% compared to 20.61% of the control device and exhibit a hysteresis‐free feature. The humidity and thermal stability of PSCs based on STRS‐SnO2 are significantly improved. Furthermore, the efficiency of flexible devices increased from 19.74% to 20.79%, and the devices still maintain >80% of initial PCE after 4500 bending cycles with a bend radius of 5 mm. This study provides a low‐cost, facile, and efficient strategy for achieving high efficiency and stability in PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article concerns the application of the FEM method for the prediction of stress and deformation states in a workpiece during the thread rolling process (TR). The analysis covered a new kinematic variant of the TR process in which the basket of the head rotates and is torque-driven, while the workpiece is stationary and the head with the rollers moves axially relative to the workpiece. The TR process was considered as a geometrical and physical non-linear initial and boundary problem with non-linear, moving, and variable in time and space boundary conditions. The boundary conditions in the contact areas of the tool with the workpiece were unknown. An updated Lagrange (UL) description was used to describe the physical phenomena at a typical incremental step. The states of strain and strain rate were described by non-linear relationships without linearization. New discrete systems of motion and deformation equations of the object in the TR were introduced, which take into account the change in the stiffness of the system during the TR process. This equation was solved by the central differences method (explicit). The material parameters were estimated during tensile tests to determine the characteristics of the C45 steel, and a new semi-empirical method was used to determine the relationship yield stress, effective true strain, and effective true strain rate in the thread rolling process. A modified Cowper–Symonds material model was also used to model the displacement process of the wedge on an elastic/visco-plastic body reflecting the TR process. A non-linear dependency of material hardening module depending on strain and strain rate was introduced. To confirm the plane state of deformation and spatial state of stress, an experimental investigation was carried out. The computer models were validated, and a good convergence of the results was obtained. Applications in the ANSYS/LS-Dyna program were developed to simulate the TR process. The developed applications enable a comprehensive time analysis of the states of displacement, strain, and stress occurring in an object consisting of a workpiece (shaft) and a tool (roller) for the case of a plane strain state and a spatial stress state. Exemplary results of numerical analyzes are presented to explain the influence of the friction coefficient on the condition of the thread quality, and the state of deformations and stresses were shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends earlier works that focused on stressor appraisals (stressor as challenge and stressor as hindrance) as mediators of stressors and psychological strains. We also tested whether psychological strains would then affect organisational outcomes. Survey data were gathered from a general sample of 237 full-time employees at three time points. The first time was a screener survey to ensure the study represented full-time working adults. After the screening survey, data on both predictor and criteria were gathered two more times. Time 1 reflects data gathered on role stressors (overload and conflict), appraisals (challenge and hindrance), and psychological strains (anxiety and tedium). Time 2 also included a set of measures targeted toward organisational attitudes (affective organisational commitment, job satisfaction) and outcome (turnover intention). Drawing from the transactional model of stress, we tested a structural equations model to the data and found that stressor appraisals did not mediate the stressor-psychological strain outcome. However, consistent with prior research, psychological strains did mediate the relationship between stressors and organisational outcomes and across all models, psychological strains measured at T1 had the highest goodness of fit. These findings suggest that self-appraisal may not be sufficient to explain the causal mechanism linking stressors to outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chicken meat is one of the most consumed proteins worldwide, however, it is one of the main reservoirs of Escherichia coli which is the main cause of multiple infections after consumption due to different factors such as inefficient handling at the time of slaughter, poor hygiene and inadequate refrigeration. The diseases it causes not only affect the health of consumers, but also the economy of traders. Therefore, this study aimed to identify by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene different strains that were isolated in chicken meat, for this 135 samples were taken and collected from formal and informal points of sale and from 9 slaughtering centers that supply Ambato. The samples were evaluated by means of microbiological and biochemical tests and then DNA was extracted from the 40 suspect samples, which were analyzed by PCR. The results were obtained through sequencing where a total of 33 different strains were identified, strains AF1 and ATCC 11775 were predominant in the chicken meat samples in the canton of Ambato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noctuid moth soybean looper (SBL), Chrysodeixis includens (Walker) is an economically important pest of soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) in the southeastern United States. It has characteristics that are of particular concern for pest mitigation that include a broad host range, the capacity for annual long-distance flight, and resistance in some populations to important pesticides such as pyrethroids and chitin synthesis inhibitor. The biology of SBL in the United States resembles that of the fellow noctuid fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), a major pest of corn and several other crops. FAW exhibits a population structure in that it can be divided into two groups (host strains) that differ in their host preferences but are broadly sympatric and exhibit incomplete reproductive isolation. In this paper, strategies used to characterize the FAW strains were applied to SBL to assess the likelihood of population structure in the United States. Evidence is presented for two SBL strains that were defined phylogenetically and display differences in the proportions of a small set of genetic markers. The populations exhibit evidence of reproductive barriers sufficient to allow persistent asymmetry in the distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes. The identified molecular markers will facilitate studies characterizing the behaviors of these two populations, with relevance to pest mitigation and efforts to prevent further dispersal of the resistance traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drop stamping of valve-type flange rod forgings is researched using computer simulation in the "QForm" software. The effect of technological parameters on the power parameters, the stress-strain state and the nature of the metal flow, the temperature over the forging cross section during stamping is clarified. The optimal dimensions of the initial billet and the geometry of the tool are determined, which provide minimal technological efforts and optimal forming conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]