Anaerobic digestion of cattle manure was studied under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions with the purpose of evaluating the effect of temperature on the quality of the final digestate. ...Non-isothermal thermogravimetric kinetic analysis was applied for assessing organic matter conversion of biological stabilization. The mathematical approximation proves to be a useful tool for evaluating the differences attained during biological degradation. The anaerobic digestion of the organic substrate resulted in a reduction of the activation energy value obtained from the different applied kinetic models. Results obtained from thermal kinetic analysis were in accordance with those from the monitoring of the anaerobic digestion process. The higher values of methane yield reported for the mesophilic digestion in comparison to that of the thermophilic indicated a greater capability of the former process in the utilization of substrate and thus a higher conversion of organic matter which can be quantified by the activation energy value.
Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, is a major contributor to functional impairment and loss of independence in older persons. The European Project on OSteoArthritis (EPOSA) is a ...collaborative study involving six European cohort studies on ageing. This project focuses on the personal and societal burden and its determinants of osteoarthritis. This paper describes the design of the project, and presents some descriptive analyses on selected variables across countries.
EPOSA is an observational study including pre-harmonized data from European cohort studies (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) on older community-dwelling persons aged 65 to 85 years. In total, 2942 persons were included in the baseline study with a mean age of 74.2 years (SD 5.1), just over half were women (51,9%). The baseline assessment was conducted by a face-to-face interview followed by a clinical examination. Measures included physical, cognitive, psychological and social functioning, lifestyle behaviour, physical environment, wellbeing and care utilisation. The clinical examination included anthropometry, muscle strength, physical performance and OA exam. A follow-up assessment was performed 12-18 months after baseline.
The EPOSA study is the first population-based study including a clinical examination of OA, using pre-harmonized data across European countries. The EPOSA study provides a unique opportunity to study the determinants and consequences of OA in general populations of older persons, including both care-seeking and non care-seeking persons.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A density functional theory study of the effect of the adsorption of a mixture of potassium salt and an imidazolium-based ionic liquid on the electronic and optical properties of graphene and ...borophene is performed. This addition leads to a downward shift of the Dirac cone for both structures due to the electron transferred from potassium to the graphene and borophene sheets. The transferred charge to the wall and the binding energy of potassium are bigger than in the case of the adsorption of potassium on pristine graphene. The Bader analysis shows that the presence of potassium makes the charge distributions in graphene and the layers of boron atoms in borophene more homogenous and the electronic distribution in the sheets is consequently less affected by the electromagnetic interaction with the ions in the mixture. Moreover, the results show that the optical properties are altered by the metallic cation, especially at low frequencies where ionic liquid-enhanced 2D plasmons are registered due to the doping of 2D sheets by electrons transferred from the potassium atoms leading to near zero values of the parallel components of the dielectric function and refractive index.
•Binding energy of potassium and charge transfer to 2D materials with ionic liquids•Geometrical and electrical properties of ionic liquid adsorbed on 2D materials•Effect of ionic liquid on the density of state of 2D materials•Effect of ionic liquid on the 2D plasmon of graphene and borophene•Regions of near-zero dielectric constants and refractive index in 2D materials
Novel non-invasive biomarkers for the precise diagnosis of malignancy in pleural effusion (PE) are needed. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of calprotectin for ...predicting malignancy in patients with exudative PE.
Calprotectin concentration was measured in 156 individuals diagnosed with exudative PE (67 malignant and 89 benign). Calprotectin accuracy for discriminating between malignant and benign PE was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to test the association between calprotectin levels and malignant PE.
Calprotectin levels were significantly lower in malignant pleural fluid (257.2 ng ml(-1), range: 90.7-736.4) than benign effusions (2627.1 ng ml(-1), range: 21-9530.1). The area under the curve was 0.963. A cutoff point of ≤ 736.4 ng ml(-1) rendered a sensitivity of 100%, with a specificity of 83.15%, which could prove useful to delimit those patients with negative cytology tests that should be referred for more invasive diagnostic procedures. Logistic regression demonstrated a strong association between calprotectin and malignancy (adjusted OR 663.14).
Calprotectin predicts malignancy in pleural fluid with high accuracy and could be a good complement to cytological methods.
Platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and their tyrosine kinase receptors play instrumental roles in embryonic organogenesis and diseases of adult organs. In particular, platelet-derived growth ...factor receptor-alpha (PDGFRα) is expressed by multipotent cardiovascular progenitors in mouse and human embryonic stem cell systems. Although cardiac PDGFRα expression has been studied in multiple species, little is known about its expression in the human heart. Using immunofluorescence, we analyzed PDGFRα expression in both human fetal and diseased adult hearts, finding strong expression in the interstitial cells of the epicardium, myocardium, and endocardium, as well as the coronary smooth muscle. Only rare endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes expressed PDGFRα. This pattern was consistent for both the fetal and adult diseased hearts, although more PDGFRα+ cardiomyocytes were noted in the latter. In vitro differentiation assays were then performed on the PDGFRα+ cell fraction isolated from the cardiomyocyte-depleted human fetal hearts. Protocols previously reported to direct differentiation to a cardiomyocyte (5-azacytidine), smooth muscle (PDGF-BB), or endothelial cell fates (vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF) were used. Although no significant cardiomyocyte differentiation was observed, PDGFRα+ cells generated significant numbers of smooth muscle cells (smooth muscle-α-actin+ and smooth muscle myosin+) and endothelial cells (CD31+). These data suggest that a subfraction of the cardiac PDGFRα+ populations are progenitors contributing predominantly to the vascular and mesenchymal compartments of the human heart. It may be possible to control the fate of these progenitors to promote vascularization or limit fibrosis in the injured heart.
We prove that if an analytic map
f
:
U
→
C
n
, where
U
⊂
C
n
is an open neighborhood of the origin, admits an algebraic addition theorem, then there exists a meromorphic map
g
:
C
n
⤏
C
n
admitting ...an algebraic addition theorem such that each coordinate function of
f
is algebraic over
C
(
g
)
on
U
(this was proved by Weierstrass for
n
=
1
). Furthermore,
g
admits a
rational
addition theorem.
ABSTRACT
In 2021 BL Lacertae underwent an extraordinary activity phase, which was intensively followed by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) Collaboration. We present the WEBT optical data in ...the BVRI bands acquired at 36 observatories around the world. In mid-2021 the source showed its historical maximum, with R = 11.14. The light curves display many episodes of intraday variability, whose amplitude increases with source brightness, in agreement with a geometrical interpretation of the long-term flux behaviour. This is also supported by the long-term spectral variability, with an almost achromatic trend with brightness. In contrast, short-term variations are found to be strongly chromatic and are ascribed to energetic processes in the jet. We also analyse the optical polarimetric behaviour, finding evidence of a strong correlation between the intrinsic fast variations in flux density and those in polarization degree, with a time delay of about 13 h. This suggests a common physical origin. The overall behaviour of the source can be interpreted as the result of two mechanisms: variability on time-scales greater than several days is likely produced by orientation effects, while either shock waves propagating in the jet, or magnetic reconnection, possibly induced by kink instabilities in the jet, can explain variability on shorter time-scales. The latter scenario could also account for the appearance of quasi-periodic oscillations, with periods from a few days to a few hours, during outbursts, when the jet is more closely aligned with our line of sight and the time-scales are shortened by relativistic effects.
This paper describes various practical aspects, in some detail, of inmplementiing an algorithm for the design of large-scale radial distribution networks. This algorithm is one which has been ...published previously, so this paper should be considered as the second part of that work. This algorithm simultaneously optimizes the line layout and type of conductor used. A branch-exchange algorithm for layout optimization, a dynamic programming algorithm for conductor optimization, and a decomposition algorithm enabling large-scale problem solving are all combined in this algorithm. To demonstrate the benefits of the proposed algorithm, numerical results have been provided from a reference network built for a low-voltage rural zone comprised of 1088 loads and 20 distribution substations. It can be verified that using the decomposition technique enables large-scale problem solving and produces results that are better than those techniques which come from a mere partition of the original problem into smaller parts.
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