•SBS modifiers enhanced low-temperature crack resistance of asphalt binder.•High strain fatigue life of the SBS modified mastic asphalt mixtures was improved.•The SBS modified mixtures had greater ...flexural toughness than control mixtures.•The SBS modifiers was more substantial in retarding fatigue crack growth.
This study evaluated the fatigue performance of Styrene–Butadiene–Styrene (SBS) modified mastic asphalt mixtures used for bridge deck pavements. The effect of the type and content of newly developed SBS modifiers was investigated using typical binder tests. Four-point bending beam fatigue and indirect strength tests were conducted to examine fatigue and fracture behaviors of the SBS modified mastic asphalt mixtures. The SBS modifiers without CC double bonds enhanced the mechanical properties of the mastic asphalt binder and mixtures: lower stiffness after short- and long-term oxidation, significantly greater fatigue resistance at a higher strain level, and higher crack development resistance.
Xpert MTB/RIF rapidly detects resistance to rifampicin (RR); however, this test misses I491F-RR conferring
mutation, common in southern Africa. In addition, Xpert MTB/RIF does not distinguish between ...viable and dead
(MTB). We aimed to investigate the ability of thin-layer agar (TLA) direct drug-susceptibility testing (DST) to detect MTB and its drug-resistance profiles in field conditions in Eswatini. Consecutive samples were tested in parallel with Xpert MTB/RIF and TLA for rifampicin (1.0 μg/ml) and ofloxacin (2.0 μg/ml). TLA results were compared at the Reference Laboratory in Antwerp with indirect-DST on Löwenstein-Jensen or 7H11 solid media and additional phenotypic and genotypic testing to resolve discordance. TLA showed a positivity rate for MTB detection of 7.1% versus 10.0% for Xpert MTB/RIF. Of a total of 4,547 samples included in the study, 200 isolates were available for comparison to the composite reference. Within a median of 18.4 days, TLA detected RR with 93.0% sensitivity (95% confidence interval CI, 77.4 to 98.0) and 99.4% specificity (95% CI, 96.7 to 99.9) versus 62.5% (95% CI, 42.7 to 78.8) and 99.3% (95% CI, 96.2 to 99.9) for Xpert MTB/RIF. Eight isolates, 28.6% of all RR-confirmed isolates, carried the I491F mutation, all detected by TLA. TLA also correctly identified 183 of the 184 ofloxacin-susceptible isolates (99.5% specificity; 95% CI, 97.0 to 99.9). In field conditions, TLA rapidly detects RR, and in this specific setting, it contributed to detection of additional RR patients over Xpert MTB/RIF, mainly but not exclusively due to I491F. TLA also accurately excluded fluoroquinolone resistance.
A phycocyanin-deletion mutant of Synechocystis (cyanobacteria) was generated upon replacement of the CPC-operon with a kanamycin resistance cassette. The Δcpc transformant strains (Δcpc) exhibited a ...green phenotype, compared to the blue-green of the wild type (WT), lacked the distinct phycocyanin absorbance at 625nm, and had a lower Chl per cell content and a lower PSI/PSII reaction center ratio compared to the WT. Molecular and genetic analyses showed replacement of all WT copies of the Synechocystis DNA with the transgenic version, thereby achieving genomic DNA homoplasmy. Biochemical analyses showed the absence of the phycocyanin α- and β-subunits, and the overexpression of the kanamycin resistance NPTI protein in the Δcpc. Physiological analyses revealed a higher, by a factor of about 2, intensity for the saturation of photosynthesis in the Δcpc compared to the WT. Under limiting intensities of illumination, growth of the Δcpc was slower than that of the WT. This difference in the rate of cell duplication diminished gradually as growth irradiance increased. Identical rates of cell duplication of about 13h for both WT and Δcpc were observed at about 800μmolphotonsm−2s−1 or greater. Culture productivity analyses under simulated bright sunlight and high cell-density conditions showed that biomass accumulation by the Δcpc was 1.57-times greater than that achieved by the WT. Thus, the work provides first-time direct evidence of the applicability of the Truncated Light-harvesting Antenna (TLA)-concept in cyanobacteria, entailing substantial improvements in the photosynthetic efficiency and productivity of mass cultures upon minimizing the phycobilisome light-harvesting antenna size.
•Phycocyanin deletion mutants of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis were generated.•Transformants (termed Δcpc) were green compared to blue-green for the wild type.•Δcpc photosynthesis saturated at 2× higher light intensity than in the wild type.•Δcpc mass culture productivities were 55–60% greater than those of the wild type.•The Truncated Light-harvesting Antenna (TLA)-concept applies in cyanobacteria.
Pod degradacijom tla podrazumijevaju se procesi koji dovode do smanjenja njegove plodnosti ili proizvodne sposobnosti te drugih korisnih uloga koje tlo ima u ekosustavu zbog ljudske aktivnosti ili ...prirodnih uvjeta. Tlo je izloženo procesima fizikalne, kemijske i biološke degradacije. Od fizikalnih procesa degradacije mogu se izdvojiti: gubitak plodnog tla zbog erozije vodom i vjetrom, kvarenje strukture i zbijanje tla, te dezertifikacija. Kemijski procesi degradacije tla odnose se na: ispiranje hraniva i toksičnost zbog kisele ili bazične reakcije tla (zaslanjivanje ili alkalizacija) i štetne tvari u tlu. Smanjenje sadržaja organske tvari i biološke raznolikosti tla pripadaju biološkim procesima degradacije. Svi ovi procesi, koje ponajprije uzrokuje čovjek, a manje su rezultat prirodnih uvjeta, nepovoljno se odražavaju na plodnost, produktivnost, kakvoću i zdravlje tla. U radu su detektirani uzroci i posljedice ovih degradacijskih procesa te se daju odgovarajuće smjernice za kvalitetnije gospodarenje tlom i preporučuju se mjere njegove sanacije.
Soil degradation refers to processes that lead to a decrease in its fertility or production capacity and other useful roles that the soil plays in the ecosystem due to human activity or natural conditions. The soil is exposed to the processes of physical, chemical and biological degradation. From the physical processes of degradation, the following can be distinguished: loss of fertile soil due to erosion by water and wind, deterioration of the structure and soil compaction, and desertification. Chemical processes of soil degradation refer to: leaching of nutrients and toxicity due to acidic or basic soil reaction (salinization or alkalization) and harmful substances in the soil. The decrease in the organic matter content and biological diversity of the soil belong to the biological processes of degradation. All these processes, which are primarily human caused and less the result of natural conditions, adversely affect the fertility, productivity, quality and health of the soil. In the paper, the causes and consequences of these degradation processes are detected and appropriate guidelines are given for better soil management and measures for its remediation are recommended.
To compare the efficacy and safety of retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (RLA) and transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (TLA) in the treatment of large (≥6cm) adrenal pheochromocytomas.
...We retrospectively collected the clinical data of 130 patients with large pheochromocytoma who underwent RLA or TLA in our hospital from 2012 to 2022. The perioperative parameters and follow-up outcomes of the two groups were compared, and univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the risk factors of hemodynamic instability (HI).
A total of 57 patients underwent TLA and 73 underwent RLA. There was no difference in demographic characteristics such as age, sex and tumor size between the two groups. Compared with the TLA group, patients in the RLA group had shorter operation time (P<0.001) and less estimated blood loss (EBL) (P<0.001). The time to ambulation, time to oral food and time to removal of drainage of RLA group were earlier than those of TLA group. In addition, the hospital stay was shorter in the RLA group than in the TLA group. There were no differences in HI, complications, or blood pressure (BP) improvement between the two groups. The mean follow-up time was 61.4 and 65.5 months, respectively, during which no tumors recurred or metastasized. Multivariate analysis showed that elevated hormone levels and larger tumor size were independent risk factors for HI.
Both RLA and TLA are effective treatment methods for large pheochromocytomas, but the perioperative outcomes of RLA are better than that of TLA. Our study demonstrates the superiority of RLA for the treatment of large pheochromocytomas.
Physical limitations in processor design have made computer industry shift from improving the speed of a single processor to increasing the number of processing core units. But the design of software ...to exploit parallel processing power in a correct and cost-effective way is a challenging task requiring a high degree of expertise. In 2017, Pérez and Yovineproposed a platform-agnostic parallel programming pattern called PCR, that eases writing parallel code. In this thesis, we formalize the PCR pattern in terms of TLA+ —a formal specification language for concurrent systems that is being used at places suchas Intel, Amazon and Microsoft. We seek to provide a formal framework mainly for (1) expressing high level PCR designs and prove their functional correctness in the sense that their parallel computation computes a given mathematical function, and (2) being able to formally relate different PCR designs. In this way, we contribute to the state of the art in formal verification of parallel programs by leveraging TLA+-related tools to proving properties about high-level PCR-based algorithms such as their functional correctness and refinement.
Limitaciones físicas en el diseño de microprocesadores han hecho que la industria de computadoras pase de mejorar la velocidad de un solo procesador a aumentar el número de unidades centrales de ...procesamiento. Pero el diseño de software para explotar la potencia de procesamiento paralelo de manera correcta y efectiva es una tarea desafiante que requiere un alto grado de experiencia. En 2017, Pérez y Yovine propusieron un patrón de programación paralela agnóstico de plataforma llamado PCR, que facilita la escritura de código paralelo. En este trabajo, formalizamos el patrón PCR en términos de TLA+ - un lenguaje de especificación formal para sistemas concurrentes que se está utilizando en lugares como Intel, Amazon y Microsoft. Buscamos proporcionar un marco formal principalmente para (1) expresar diseños PCR de alto nivel y probar su corrección funcional en el sentido de que su computación paralela calcula una función matemática dada, y (2) poder relacionar formalmente diferentes diseños PCR. De esta manera, contribuimos al estado del arte en la verificación formal de programas paralelos aprovechando las herramientas asociadas a TLA+ para probar propiedades sobre algoritmos PCR de alto nivel, como su corrección funcional y refinamiento.
The current BD Kiestra™ total laboratory automation (TLA) system automates specimen inoculation, incubation, and digital visualization of cultures prior to initiation of manual or semi-automated ...identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). The current study aimed to compare the performance, in a clinical setting, of a fully automated research-use-only prototype, BD Kiestra™ IdentifA/SusceptA (automated system), to our current BD Kiestra™ TLA which utilizes manual or semi-automated IDs and ASTs (current system).
Clinical samples yielding significant growth after processing by the BD Kiestra™ TLA were tested in parallel for ID and AST by both systems. IDs and ASTs were determined by Bruker matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and BD Phoenix, respectively, with data stored and managed in the BD EpiCenter™. The automated system used a common inoculum preparation for both tests, whereas the current system used separate inocula. Results were compared to assess agreement between the systems.
On initial testing, 89% of IDs (466/523) and 92.4% of IDs (484/523) for the automated and current ID systems, respectively, yielded acceptable MALDI-TOF log scores of ≥1.7. On repeat testing, the respective acceptable scores were 97.1% (508/523) and 98.1% (513/523). For initial ASTs, the automated and current systems yielded 97.5% categorical agreement for 7325 drug–organism tests. After omitting discrepant MICs that differed by only one dilution and categorical discrepancies that were not reproducible, 0.2% unresolved discrepancies remained thus (99.8% categorical agreement).
The automated prototype is suitable for development into technology that will provide clinical microbiology laboratories with significant advantages such as improved efficiency, standardization, reproducibility, reduced technical error and greater safety.
U radu su korišteni neobjavljeni podaci o zemljišnim uvjetima, pedološkim značajkama i namjenskoj pogodnosti tala Crnačkog i Stajničkog polja. Analizirani su i namjenski interpretirani podaci o ...relevantnim čimbenicima, razvoju tala, geološko litološkoj podlozi - matičnom supstratu, oborinama, poplavama i vegetaciji. Razmatrana je sistematika i prostorna zastupljenost tala. Interpretirane su morfološke, fizikalne i kemijske značajke tala, oborinska voda u tlu, osjetljivost tla na propuštanje onečišćivača i pogodnost tla za oranice, te preporučene mjere za uređenje.
Unpublished data on the pedological characteristics and dedicated soil suitability of Crnačko and Stajničko polje were used in this paper. Data on relevant factors of soil development, geological lithological substrate-parent substrate, precipitation, floods and vegetation were analyzed and purposefully interpreted. Systematics and spatial representation of soils are considered. The morphological, physical and chemical characteristics of the soil, rainwater in the soil, the sensitivity of the soil to the leaching of pollutants, the suitability of the soil for arable land, then land reclamation measures were interpreted.
The theoretical maxima of solar energy conversion efficiencies and productivities in oxygenic photosynthesis are evaluated. These are contrasted with actual measurements in a variety of ...photosynthetic organisms, including green microalgae, cyanobacteria, C4 and C3 plants. Minimizing, or truncating, the chlorophyll antenna size of the photosystems can improve photosynthetic solar energy conversion efficiency and productivity up to 3-fold. Generation of truncated light-harvesting chlorophyll antenna size
(
tla)
strains, in all classes of photosynthetic organisms would help to alleviate excess absorption of sunlight and the ensuing wasteful dissipation of excitation energy, and to maximize solar-to-product energy conversion efficiency and photosynthetic productivity in high-density mass cultivations. The
tla
concept may find application in the commercial exploitation of microalgae and plants for the generation of biomass, biofuels, chemical feedstocks, as well as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.
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