Introduction: Increase of world population, lack of food sources, and need for food security, protection of agricultural products against losses, drought, pests, and diseases, all seems to be ...necessary more than ever. During the years, grains have been the main food of humans, especially wheat, barley, rice, and corn. So production and storage of these products is important for societies. One of the main problems in this field is protecting the grains in stores until consuming or planting them again. Annually, over hundreds of millions tons of grains are lost by pests present in stores and not observing the scientific principles of storing. Control of insects and pests during storage as a destructive factor of stored products by harmless methods is necessary. There are restrictions in use of chemically control methods against pests in stores. Therefore in recent decades, physically control methods have attracted a lot of attentions. The purpose of using physically control methods is eliminating pests with minimum destructive effect on the environment. These methods directly affect on pests or change their living situations and create an unsafe environment for them. One of the tools that indirectly affect pests is ultrasonic waves. Ultrasonic waves are mechanical waves which can properly penetrate in air and porous areas. These waves are completely safe for the environment and cause no damage to the environment. Ultrasonic waves as new safe strategy in insect control can prepare unsafe areas for annoying insects and agricultural pests. The main characteristics of ultrasonic waves are safe for humans and environment. Materials and Methods: In this study, experiments were carried out to assess the repellent impact of ultrasonic waves on one important storage pest, red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum Herbs). The system, which produces ultrasonic waves, includes distributor of ultrasonic waves, power supply, central processor, oscillator, display, Perry amplifier, amplifier, keyboard, and step motor. In this system, all parts are connected with each other. After doing pretests at different frequencies and times, frequencies of 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 kHz and radiation times of 3, 6, 12, and 24 h were selected as the most appropriate levels of variables. So these levels were used for doing the main tests on red beetle samples of flour. to study the effect of ultrasonic waves on red beetles, a factorial experiment was done based on completely randomized block design with three replications. To study the repellent and absorbent effects of ultrasonic waves, 20 red beetles were placed in 150 g flour into plastic tubes. The tubes have 10 cm diameter and 50 cm length. The odorless and flavourless oil was rubbed to the beginning and end of tubes in order to count the number of beetles. Because they trap into oil while exiting the tubes. The insects, which go toward the radiation source of waves, were as absorbent effect of waves. On the contrary, the insects that go against the radiation source and try to get out of flour were considered as repellent effect of waves. Results and Discussion: The results of this research showed that ultrasonic waves can give red beetles away from the flour. It showed that insects tend very much to escape from the environment So they use all directions to get out of the environment. Analysis of variance showed that the frequency variable with the level of 95% probability independently had a significant effect on the pests escape. The results showed that in frequency of 35 kHz during 6 hours radiation intervals have highest repellency and escaping of pest from the nutrient medium with less energy consumption. The study showed that the application of ultrasonic waves in pests control can reduce the fumigant pesticides which are an important factor in environmental, food storage and consumers pollution. Conclusions: The present study indicates that physically control method with ultrasonic wave is a safe, harmless, and accommodated method with the environment. It can be used in storehouses and grain depots. So this method can be placed in consolidated management program of pests in stores. To make sure about the proper and precise performance of this system, more researches are needed to be done in this field.
Solar Orbiter strives to unveil how the Sun controls and shapes the heliosphere and fills it with energetic particle radiation. To this end, its Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) has now been in ...operation, providing excellent data, for just over a year. EPD measures suprathermal and energetic particles in the energy range from a few keV up to (near-) relativistic energies (few MeV for electrons and about 500 MeV/nuc for ions). We present an overview of the initial results from the first year of operations and we provide a first assessment of issues and limitations. During this first year of operations of the Solar Orbiter mission, EPD has recorded several particle events at distances between 0.5 and 1 au from the Sun. We present dynamic and time-averaged energy spectra for ions that were measured with a combination of all four EPD sensors, namely: the SupraThermal Electron and Proton sensor (STEP), the Electron Proton Telescope (EPT), the Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS), and the High-Energy Telescope (HET) as well as the associated energy spectra for electrons measured with STEP and EPT. We illustrate the capabilities of the EPD suite using the 10-11 December 2020 solar particle event. This event showed an enrichment of heavy ions as well as \(^3\)He, for which we also present dynamic spectra measured with SIS. The high anisotropy of electrons at the onset of the event and its temporal evolution is also shown using data from these sensors. We discuss the ongoing in-flight calibration and a few open instrumental issues using data from the 21 July and the 10-11 December 2020 events and give guidelines and examples for the usage of the EPD data. We explain how spacecraft operations may affect EPD data and we present a list of such time periods in the appendix. A list of the most significant particle enhancements as observed by EPT during this first year is also provided.
In recent decays university class small satellites are creating many opportunities for space research and professional trainings while at the same time responding to constrained budgets. In this work ...the main focus is on developing a simple and rapid structural sizing tool considering the main objectives of a low cost university class microsatellite project. In satellite projects, structure subsystem is one of the influential subsystems as a driver of the cost and acceptance of the final design. At the first steps of such projects there is no confirmed data regarding the launch vehicle or even in some cases there is no data for the satellite payload. Due to these facts, developing simple sizing tools at conceptual design phase for obtaining an over view of the effect of different variables is useful before entering complex calculations in detailed design phases. In this study, after developing a simple analytical model of satellite structure subsystem, a design space is evaluated with practical boundaries considering mass and dimensions constraints of such projects. The results are useful to give initial insight to establish the system level structural sizing.
Solar Orbiter is a joint ESA-NASA mission planed for launch in October 2018. The science payload includes remote-sensing and in-situ instrumentation designed with the primary goal of understanding ...how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere. The spacecraft will follow an elliptical orbit around the Sun, with perihelion as close as 0.28 AU. During the late orbit phase the orbital plane will reach inclinations above 30 degrees, allowing direct observations of the solar polar regions. The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) is an instrument suite consisting of several sensors measuring electrons, protons and ions over a broad energy interval (2 keV to 15 MeV for electrons, 3 keV to 100 MeV for protons and few tens of keV/nuc to 450 MeV/nuc for ions), providing composition, spectra, timing and anisotropy information. We present an overview of Solar Orbiter from the energetic particle perspective, summarizing the capabilities of EPD and the opportunities that these new observations will provide for understanding how energetic particles are accelerated during solar eruptions and how they propagate through the Heliosphere.
We present a technique for learning control Lyapunov-like functions, which are used in turn to synthesize controllers for nonlinear dynamical systems that can stabilize the system, or satisfy ...specifications such as remaining inside a safe set, or eventually reaching a target set while remaining inside a safe set. The learning framework uses a
demonstrator
that implements a black-box, untrusted strategy presumed to solve the problem of interest, a
learner
that poses finitely many queries to the demonstrator to infer a candidate function, and a
verifier
that checks whether the current candidate is a valid control Lyapunov-like function. The overall learning framework is iterative, eliminating a set of candidates on each iteration using the counterexamples discovered by the verifier and the demonstrations over these counterexamples. We prove its convergence using ellipsoidal approximation techniques from convex optimization. We also implement this scheme using nonlinear MPC controllers to serve as demonstrators for a set of state and trajectory stabilization problems for nonlinear dynamical systems. We show how the verifier can be constructed efficiently using convex relaxations of the verification problem for polynomial systems to semi-definite programming problem instances. Our approach is able to synthesize relatively simple polynomial control Lyapunov-like functions, and in that process replace the MPC using a guaranteed and computationally less expensive controller.
Key Clinical Message
The main target of this report was that brucellosis can occur in unexpected and very rare patterns. We reported this patient to acknowledge all of clinicians especially those ...living in the endemic areas, that these rare complications of brucellosis can also be treated by the standard treatment of this disease.
Brucellosis is a thousand‐face disease and common zoonotic infection in endemic regions. A 42‐year‐old female was admitted with sternoclavicular arthritis and breast abscess. After laboratory investigation and imaging, positive serological test results and positive blood culture for Brucella revealed acute sternoclavicular arthritis and breast abscess due to brucellosis.
Background: Following the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak (COVID-19), it became a worrisome health burden worldwide. COVID-19-associated mucormycosis emergence, characterized by dysregulated ...inflammation and iron metabolism, exacerbated the prognosis of affected patients. Given the significance of hepcidin in regulating inflammation and iron metabolism, this study investigated the significance of hepcidin single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in COVID-19-associated mucormycosis development, along with the association between the clinical and laboratory factors and COVID-19-associated mucormycosis. Methods: From September 2021 to November 2021, COVID-19 patients with and without mucormycosis were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Their medical records and laboratory results were investigated. SNP genotyping was performed using Sanger sequencing. Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, Pearson's Chi square, and student t test were used for analyzing the data using SPSS software version 25. P<0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: Here, 110 COVID-19 patients with and without mucormycosis were investigated. Elevated levels ofurea, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and increased ratio of polymorphonuclear neutrophil to lymphocytes were associated with decreased risk of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis in patients (all P<0.05). Moreover, diabetes mellitus increased the risk of mucormycosis (P=0.028). In contrast to patients without mucormycosis, patients with mucormycosis did not display 442 GA and SNP335 GT genotypes. Unlike patients without mucormycosis, none of the patients with mucormycosis had SNP442 GA and SNP335 GT genotypes. Regarding SNP 443 C>T, and the combination of SNPs 582 A>G and 443 C>T, CC genotype and AA+CC genotypes were associated with increased lactate dehydrogenase levels in COVID-19 patients, respectively. Conclusion: Regarding SNP 443 C>T, the CC genotype was associated with increased lactate dehydrogenase levels in COVID-19 patients. In terms of SNP 582 A>G and SNP 443 C>T, COVID-19 patients with AA+CC genotypes had higher levels of LDH. None of the patients with mucormycosis had SNP442 GA and SNP335 GT genotypes. Keywords * COVID-19 * Hepcidin * Mucormycosis * Polymorphism * Single nucleotide
Matter evolved under the influence of gravity from minuscule density fluctuations. Nonperturbative structure formed hierarchically over all scales and developed non-Gaussian features in the Universe, ...known as the cosmic web. To fully understand the structure formation of the Universe is one of the holy grails of modern astrophysics. Astrophysicists survey large volumes of the Universe and use a large ensemble of computer simulations to compare with the observed data to extract the full information of our own Universe. However, to evolve billions of particles over billions of years, even with the simplest physics, is a daunting task. We build a deep neural network, the Deep Density Displacement Model (D³M), which learns from a set of prerun numerical simulations, to predict the nonlinear large-scale structure of the Universe with the Zel’dovich Approximation (ZA), an analytical approximation based on perturbation theory, as the input. Our extensive analysis demonstrates that D³M outperforms the second-order perturbation theory (2LPT), the commonly used fast-approximate simulation method, in predicting cosmic structure in the nonlinear regime. We also show that D³M is able to accurately extrapolate far beyond its training data and predict structure formation for significantly different cosmological parameters. Our study proves that deep learning is a practical and accurate alternative to approximate 3D simulations of the gravitational structure formation of the Universe.
Injectable hydrogels are increasingly used for in situ tissue regeneration and wound healing. Ideally, an injectable implant should promote the recruitment of cells from the surrounding native tissue ...and allow cells to migrate freely as they generate a new extracellular matrix network. Nanocomposite hydrogels such as carbon nanotube (CNT)-loaded hydrogels have been hypothesized to promote cell recruitment and cell migration relative to unloaded ones. To investigate this, CNT-glycol chitosan hydrogels were synthesized and studied. Chemoattractant-induced cell migration was studied using a modified Boyden Chamber experiment. Migrated cells were counted using flow cytometry. Cell adhesion was inferred from the morphology of the cells via an image segmentation method. Cell migration and recruitment results confirmed that small concentrations of CNT significantly increase cell migration in hydrogels, thereby accelerating tissue regeneration and wound healing in situations where there is insufficient migration in the unloaded matrix.
In this paper, a novel syngas-fed combined cogeneration plant, integrating a biomass gasifier, a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) unit, a Stirling engine, and ...an organic Rankine cycle (ORC), is introduced and thermodynamically analyzed to recognize its potentials compared to the previous solo/combined systems. For the proposed system, energetic, exergetic as well as environmental evaluations are performed. Based on the results, the gasifier and the fuel cell have a significant contribution to the exergy destruction of the system. Through a parametric study, the current density and the stack temperature difference are known as the main effective factors on the plant performance. Meanwhile, dividing the whole system into three sub-models, i.e., model (1): power production plant including the gasifier and MCFC without including Stirling engine, HRSG, and ORC unit, model (2): the cogeneration system without ORC unit, and model (3): the whole cogeneration system, an environmental impact assessment is carried out regarding CO2 emission. Considering paper as biomass revealed that maximum value of exergy efficiency is 50.18% with CO2 emissions of 28.9 × 10−2 t.MWh−1 which compared to the solo MCFC system indicates 28.40% increase and 13.3 × 10−2 t.MWh−1 decrease in exergy efficiency and CO2 emission, respectively.
Display omitted
•The 3E analyses of a CHP plant based on biomass gasifier and MCFC are performed.•The waste heat of the biomass-fueled MCFC system is recovered by HRSG, Stirling engine, and ORC.•The system yields an exergy efficiency of 50.18% with a CO2 emission of 0.289 t/MWh.•The gasifier and fuel cell have the highest rates of exergy destruction.
PDF
