Main Characteristics Research Articles

Periostial and cartilage morphology in knee osteoarthritis: beneficial effects of supplementation with Pycnogenol® + Centellicum®.

The aim of this registry study was to evaluate the progress of osteoarthrosis (OA) symptoms after the intake of a new standardized supplement combination (Pycnogenol® + Centellicum®, both Horphag Research) in a group of subjects with OA. Supplemented subjects took daily 150 mg Pycnogenol® + 450 mg Centellicum® for 6 months. Another comparable group of subjects using only standard management (SM) was included as a reference. Forty-five subjects with a mean age of 42 years completed the study, 25 in the supplemented group and 20 in the SM group. There were no safety problems or tolerability issues with the supplements. The two groups, SM and SM + Pycnogenol® + Centellicum® were comparable for age and clinical characteristics at inclusion. The two main ultrasound characteristics of cartilage, its thickness and surface-irregularity were more improved with the supplements. Pain scores, C reactive protein, the level of fitness and the use of extra pain killers (as rescue medication) were all significantly improved at 6 months with the supplement combination compared to SM (P<0.05). Plasma free radicals, pain-free walking distance on treadmill and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were significantly improved with the supplements compared to SM. The morphological improvement - visible with ultrasound - correlates with a decrease in clinical symptoms and with a more efficient ambulation without pain. SM along with the Pycnogenol® Centellicum® combination are useful to avoid drug treatments that may expose patients to some side effects over time.

Main Time Characteristics of Cosmic Ray Variations and Related Parameters in Magnetic Clouds

Main Time Characteristics of Cosmic Ray Variations and Related Parameters in Magnetic Clouds

Sociodemographic characteristics and their association with survival in women with cervical cancer

BackgroundIn 2020, the highest incidence and mortality from cervical cancer (CC) were detected in low and middle-income countries. CC remains a health problem for women living in them. In Mexico, CC ranks second in cancer incidence and mortality in women. The main characteristics of this population are low income, low educational level, and inadequate medical coverage. The present study characterized the Mexican population by CC, and the sociodemographic variables that impacted overall survival (OS) were identified.MethodsA retrospective study that included a cohort of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CC at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia between 2003 and 2016. Information was collected on sociodemographic variables related to the disease and OS.ResultsFour thousand six hundred thirty-one patients were included. The median age was 51 years, 78.5% were unemployed, 44.4% lived in a rural/suburban area, 50.8% had a partner when collecting this information, and 74.3% were classified as having low socioeconomic status. Age, living in a rural/suburban area, more advanced stages of the disease, and not receiving cancer treatment were associated with lower OS.ConclusionCC continues to affect mainly women with minimal resources, low educational levels, and living in marginalized areas. These characteristics influence the OS. Prevention and timely detection programs, education, and training focused on this population and with broader coverage are required to identify patients with CC at earlier stages.

The Emergence Of EU Withdrawal Law

“EU withdrawal law” has become a sub-field ofEUlaw.Nowthat the dust of the first withdrawal of a Member State from the EU is slowly settling, one can take a step back and analyse “withdrawal law” in a more comprehensive fashion. Its main characteristics reveal the extensive, and largely exclusive, role of the EU as such in the process of negotiating and concluding both a withdrawal agreement and a future trade deal. This reflects the procedure, which may not have been given too much attention when it was included in theTreaty, but which formed the basis for extensive subsequent institutional and scholarly interpretation. EU withdrawal law reveals not only that Member States wishing to leave the Union have to follow strict rules and procedures, but also that these rules and procedures partly remain relevant after the actual withdrawal.

Recent Progress on the Development and Application of Polymeric Nanofiltration Membranes: A Mini-Review

Abstract: The inefficiency of conventional water treatment methods in terms of removing micropollutants is prompting research into other technologies. Among these, the process of separation by nanofiltration membranes is particularly promising because of the low operating cost, rapid implementation of the system, high selectivity and easy integration with other treatment processes. Studies in this area are recent and there are many avenues for future research. This mini-review describes the main characteristics of the polymeric membranes used for nanofiltration and the various methods and polymer materials under investigation. At the end, we report the result of a survey conducted on the ScienceDirect, Scopus and Web of Science platforms using different keywords, to depict a global panorama of the current research involving polymeric nanofiltration membranes. The results revealed a particular dearth of published studies involving application of these membranes to remove micropollutants with endocrine disruptive action. Furthermore, research involving nanofiltration membranes utilizing calcium alginate is very recent. This study provides an overview of the investigation of polymeric nanofiltration membranes.

Тенденции в перераспределении муниципальных полномочий в области градостроительной деятельности

Changes in federal legislation in 2014 provided the state authorities of the Russian Federation with the opportunity to redistribute municipal powers in the field of urban planning. To date, more than half of the regions have already taken advantage of the granted right, however, both in the scientific literature and in the expert community there are a small number of works devoted to the analysis and evaluation of this issue. The article presents the results of a study of the practices of redistribution of powers between the state authorities of the Russian Federation and local governments in the field of urban planning. As a methodology, a combination of verification methods and elements of system-logical analysis is used to describe and analyse the main characteristics and typical models of the redistribution of municipal powers in the field of urban planning, as well as correlation analysis to study the possible motives for such redistribution. The results confirm the lack of system and discretion of the state authorities in choosing the number of municipalities and municipal powers for redistribution. At the same time, the motive for redistribution, apparently, is their desire to have a greater influence on the administrative procedures associated with the implementation of housing building. All this opens up prospects for further research on this issue and the search for guidelines for meaningful control over the adopted laws on redistribution and rethinking the role of the state authorities of the Russian Federation in the field of urban planning and development.

Pressurized liquid extraction of soybean oil using intermittent process with ethanol and hexane as solvent: Extraction yield and physicochemical parameters comparison

AbstractThis research demonstrates pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) in an intermittent process in obtaining soybean oil using less solvent than conventional extraction. Temperature (T), solvent rinse volume (VS), contact time between the solvent and the matrix (St) in each cycle and number of cycles (C) were screened. Yield, fatty acids profile (FAs), and triacylglycerols were evaluated. After preliminary testing, T and St were tested for yield while VS, C, and P were fixed at 60% of total volume of the fixed bed extractor, 3 cycles, and 10.34 MPa respectively. The highest oil recoveries were 94.40% (85°C, 13 min, with hexane) and 86.16% (80°C, 12 min, with ethanol). The mass ratio of solvent/feeds resulted in a yield increase of 1.47% (hexane) and 3.99% (ethanol). The concentration of β‐sitosterol (≤182.78 mg/100 g of oil, hexane; ≤71.64 mg/100 g of oil, ethanol) and the fatty acid profile were not affected by the different solvents or process. The main fatty acids were linoleic (≤51.12%, ethanol; ≤40.31%, hexane) and oleic (≤24.98%, ethanol; ≤26.62%, hexane). The main triacylglycerols identified were LLO, LLL, and OOL. The results indicate that soybean oil can be obtained by a new process that uses a safe and renewable solvent, indicating that PLE in an intermittent process can replace conventional extraction without changing the main characteristics of the oil, with good yield using less solvent.Practical applicationsThe practical application of this research is related to the possibility of demonstrating the feasibility of PLE in obtaining soybean oil using pressurized ethanol. The solvent used in most oilseed extraction plants is commercial hexane, a toxic and non‐renewable solvent. The experiments were carried out with pressurized hexane to demonstrate the economy of solvents and compare with the results obtained when pressurized ethanol was used as a solvent. The ethanol study aimed to show high extraction yields, even using a polar solvent in soybean oil extraction. High yields and oil characterization showed that it is possible to use a green and clean technology to obtain vegetable oils.

Maximizing employability and entrepreneurial success: a training program for highly skilled seniors transitioning into freelance consulting

This paper provides insights into the impacts of a self-employment and entrepreneurship education program for high-skilled long-term unemployed workers aged 45–65 in France during the COVID-19 pandemic. The training program involves individual tutoring, synchronous online classes and lead generation workshops with a freelancing project to design and present to a committee. We studied the impact of the training through an adapted version of the CHEERS questionnaire sent to the trainees six months after the training completion. In contrast to the previous literature, we show promising results for this kind of training. Our results show that this training program not only helps people to start a freelancing career but also prepares many of them to find an employee position after a long period of unemployment. We have also been able to identify the main characteristics of the jobs obtained afterwards that matter to high-skilled senior workers and to describe five trainee profiles through a cluster analysis: (1) enthusiastic but not confident, (2) quick return to salaried employment, (3) focused on freelancing, (4) demanding and disappointed elders, and (5) struggling with business tasks.

Learning systems of ordinary differential equations with Physics-Informed Neural Networks: the case study of enzyme kinetics

Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) are a type of function approximators that use both data-driven supervised neural networks to learn the model of the dynamics of a physical system, and mathematical equations of the physical laws governing that system. PINNs have the benefit of being data-driven to train a model, but also of being able to assure consistency with the physics, and to extrapolate accurately beyond the range of data that currently accessible. As a result, PINNs can provide models that are more reliable while using less data. Specifically, the PINNs objective is to learn the solutions of a systems of equations using supervised learning on the available data and incorporating the knowledge of physical laws and constraints into the training process. However, solving single differential equations with a PINN may be relatively simple, solving systems of coupled differential equations may not be so simple. In this study, I present a neural network model specialized in solving differential equations of enzyme kinetics that has the main characteristic of being a demonstrative simple case of coupled equations system. The study focuses mainly on the theoretical aspects of the definition of a physics-informed loss function and shows a case study that highlights the challenges still to be overcome in solving systems of coupled differential equations.

Ultrasonic testing and Monitoring of Hydrogen blistering and Hydrogen-induced Cracking of LPG Storage Tanks

Due to the presence of various corrosive chemicals in LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, or propane) storage tanks, it is very likely to cause different degrees of corrosion in the tank and derive various defects. This article analyzes the main characteristics and types of defects found in storage tanks and provides an overview of ultrasonic testing and monitoring of defects such as hydrogen blistering and hydrogen-induced cracking.

Energy spectra and fluxes of turbulent rotating Bose–Einstein condensates in two dimensions

We investigate the scaling of the energy cascade in a harmonically trapped, turbulent, rotating Bose-Einstein condensate in two dimensions. We achieve turbulence by injecting a localized perturbation into the condensate and gradually increasing its rotation frequency from an initial value to a maximum. The main characteristics of the resulting turbulent state depend on the initial conditions, rotation frequency, and ramp-up time. We analyze the energy and the fluxes of kinetic energy by considering initial profiles without vortices and with vortex lattices. In the case without initial vortices, we find the presence of Kolmogorov-like scaling (k−5/3) of the incompressible kinetic energy in the inertial range. However, with initial vortex lattices, the energy spectrum follows Vinen scaling (k−1) at transient iterations. For cases with high rotating frequencies, Kolmogorov-like scaling emerges at longer durations. We observe positive kinetic energy fluxes with both initial states across all final frequencies, indicating a forward cascade of incompressible and compressible kinetic energy.

Developing anti-crisis strategic for an educational organization

This study analyzes and projects performance of a private K-11 school in the city of Sebastopol experiencing poor educational outcomes, as well as proposes anti-crisis strategic recommendations to this organization. The authors developed a compound methodology, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative econometric methods, that is a theoretical basis of the study mentioned above. At its first stage an analytical profile of this educational organization is formed as a result of analysis and forecast of the main performance indicators. That is, key features, main characteristics, “problem points”, and competitive advantages of the school at the market of educational services are identified. At the second stage of the study, based on the results of the analysis and forecast, we formulate a set of anti-crisis strategies for the educational organization; the developed strategies optimally correspond to the previously identified "problem points" according to the suggested methodology. The implementation of the strategic alternatives formulated in this way contributes to improving the effectiveness of the troubled educational organization in question.

Ethnic Minority Participation in Clinical Trials from Latin America and the Caribbean: A Scoping Review.

We summarize the clinical trials (CTs) main characteristics, including members of ethnic minorities from Latin America. We carried out a systematic search in six databases. We made a descriptive synthesis of CTs, summarizing the characteristics, interventions, main findings, results, and conclusions reported. 4411 studies were acquired in search strategy, leaving 24 CTs in the final selection. Of these, ten were randomized, four were non-randomized, and the remainder had other designs. Most of the studies were carried out in the population of infants and children (08), ten of the studies included only women, and two studies included men. Nine studies were conducted in Mexico, with the Mayan ethnic minority being mostly evaluated (05). In only 15 it was mentioned that their research was approved by a research ethics committee. Finally, half of the CTs reported funding from international agencies and third reported funding from government agencies. Our results show that that CTs in ethnic minorities are limited and reduced to a few native peoples of the continent.

PECULARITIES CONCERNING THE TRANSLATION OF POLITICAL SPEECHES IN THE MODERN PERIOD

The article is devoted to the study of the terminology of political discourse in modern English and the ways of its transmission in the process of translation. The difference between translation and paraphrase or summary, or any kind of adaptation, lies in the correctness and completeness of the information transference. Nowadays, the language is used not only as a means of forming and expressing thoughts, but also as a means of concealing them. In the context of political struggle and the process of transition in the world, the awareness of the fact that political discourse is a linguistic and cultural problem is becoming increasingly stronger. Difficulties in translating political discourse texts are often related to the fact that the boundaries between certain types of political texts are not always clearly defined in scientific research, which makes this topic relevant. Since political discourse is created for the speakers of a particular culture, the translator faces a number of additional challenges when interpreting it into another language. The purpose of translation is to convey the essence of the original thought as accurately as possible to a reader (listener) who does not know the source language. To translate means to express correctly and completely, using the tools of one language, what has already been expressed earlier by means of another language. That is why the purpose of this article is to identify the ways to preserve the fullness of meaning when translating political texts from English into Ukrainian. To define the concept of political discourse; to study the main characteristics of political speeches as a subtype of political discourse; to identify the features of English political speeches; to analyze the ways of translating speeches into Ukrainian. Modern political discourse is characterized by a number of specific features. The point here is not only the use of specific vocabulary determined by political activity, but also in the proper selection and organization of certain structures of expression in accordance with the pragmatic guidelines. Today, in both Ukrainian and foreign societies, the ability of language to influence people's attitudes to facts and events, in particular the impact of language on the political sphere is quite clear, which makes scholars interested in the language of politics. In order to reproduce certain characteristics of the speech in translation, the translator sometimes needs to use translation grammatical transformations, which are changes in the grammatical character of a word, phrase or sentence in the translation. To analyze political speeches, we have taken the speech of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Munich Security Conference and the speech of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint session of both houses of the US Congress.

Purification of Treated Wastewater Effluents from Residual Detergents using Activated Carbon Produced from Olive Seeds

This study reports the preparation and characterization of activated carbon derived from pulverized olive seeds, as well as its application in the elimination of detergents from wastewater effluents. The activated carbon was produced by carbonization followed by activation. The main characteristics of the prepared activated carbon viz. surface area, ash content, char yield and bulk density were determined. Batch studies were conducted to determine the primary factors influencing the removal efficiency of detergents. The factors considered were the contact time of adsorption, amount of adsorbent used, pH and the concentration of detergent. The characteristics of the produced activated carbon were surface area 546.0 ± 5.6 m2/g, ash content 1.30 ± 0.24%, char yield 23.85 ± 0.63% and bulk density 444.60 ± 3.25 kg/m3. The activated carbon effectively decreased the content of detergents to below 5 mg/L, which is the permissible limit for reusing in irrigation and recharging groundwater. This study indicates that the activated carbon derived from crushed olive seeds is effective in purifying treated wastewater effluents containing residual detergents.

Circular Economy: an analysis of state-of-theart to identify a re-search agenda

In the last decade's new models of development considering the integration between the economic and ecological systems have appeared in response to the scarcity of resources and environmental impacts; the circular economy is one of these models. Although it is possible to find extensive literature on the subject, mainly in the last decade, the concept still lacks theoretical deepening. This article aims to and characterize the literature on the circular economy, published from 2008 through 2019 at the scientific bases Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science.To achieve this goal, an integrative literature review was conducted, based on the Methodi Ordinatio Protocol, considering 2,661 papers from Web of Science, Science Direct and Scopus databases. The findings demonstrated the main characteristics of the papers published in the period considered for this ILR, showing the prominent authors, the distribution of the papers over the year, the central countries and journals of the publications, and the primary methods. In addition, we identified a research agenda with many topics until not addressed. The contribution of this study lies in the analysis of the main characteristics of the international literature on the circular economy, published in journals with impact factors, as well as identifying a research agenda that can help researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders in the area.

Calcified Sclero-Choroidal Choristomas in Mosaic RASopathies: A Description of a New Imaging Sign

PurposeTo evaluate the imaging and clinical features of unusual calcified lesions seen in the fundus of mosaic RASopathy patients. DesignSingle-center retrospective observational study. SubjectsTen eyes with calcified fundus lesions in 7 mosaic RASopathy patients. MethodsThe lesions were evaluated with fundus photography, oral fundus fluorescein angiography, B-scan ultrasonography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Computed Tomography (CT) scan where available. Main Outcome MeasuresThe imaging characteristics of calcified fundus lesions were assessed. ResultsWe found seven patients with mosaic RASopathies, 5 males and 2 females (3 with Linear Sebaceous Nevus Syndrome, 3 with Oculoectodermal Syndrome, and 1 with Encephalocraniocutaneous Lipomatosis) with molecular confirmation in 5 cases, all 5 having KRAS-pathogenic variants. Calcified fundus lesions were identified in 10 eyes (bilateral in 3 patients), appearing as slightly elevated, creamy-yellow lesions around or adjacent to the optic nerve, extending supero-nasally; all but two of these lesions involved both the choroid and sclera, with two of them only involving the sclera at the time of examination. One case developed a choroidal neovascular membrane (CNV) necessitating intravitreal bevacizumab injections. All 7 patients had B-scan ultrasonography and the lesion appeared as a hyperechogenic area with an acoustic shadow posteriorly despite reduced gain. Five patients had MRI, and where fundus lesions were present, there was a focal defect in the sclero-choroidal layer. Four patients had a CT scan and all four showed calcifications affecting both the posteromedial sclero-choroid and adjacent medial rectus muscle. Two of these patients had normal eye movements, one had a unilateral fixed adducted eye and a vestigial fibrous medial rectus muscle seen in imaging and intraoperatively, and the fourth had marked exotropia with a right gaze deficit affecting both eyes. ConclusionsWe propose that the lesions seen in this cohort are calcified sclero-choroidal choristomas (CaSCCs) and should be suspected in mosaic RASopathies when creamy-yellow lesions are seen in the fundus. If identified, the possibility of choroidal neovascularization should be considered during follow-up. In all cases where a CT scan was performed, a novel sign of sclero-muscular calcification involving the medial rectus muscle was seen.

Two new methods for the estimation and interpretation of the range of feasible profiles in multivariate curve resolution and their implications to analytical chemistry

AbstractTwo new models have been recently introduced for studying the remaining rotational ambiguity in the bilinear decomposition of matrix data. One of the models is N‐BANDS, which yields two extreme profiles per sample component, corresponding to maximum or minimum signal contribution function or relative component area under its concentration profile. It is highly useful for computing the relative root mean square error due to rotational ambiguity in estimated analyte concentrations (RMSERA), which numerically quantifies the impact of the phenomenon in terms of prediction uncertainty. Since N‐BANDS successfully consider the presence of instrumental noise in the data, it is extremely useful for the analysis of real data sets. The other model is SW‐N‐BANDS, which is similar to N‐BANDS, but is applied in a sensor wise manner, that is, computing the maximum and minimum intensity value at each sensor. It provides the boundaries of the full set of feasible profiles, and helps to better understand the behavior of a given component under the application of several constraints. Both models are described in light of both simulations and experimental data, illustrating their main characteristics of importance to analytical chemistry studies.

Design science research in operations management: is there a single type?

Although many authors claimed that Design Science Research (DSR) could bring new insights to Operations Management (OM), this research method is still little used in OM studies. Aiming to present the main characteristics of DSR studies in the OM field, this study starts by conducting a systematic literature review of DSR studies published between 2013 and 2022. We identify that although DSR studies have increased in quantity and quality during this period, they remain concentrated in a few journals, authors and countries. DSR remains still under development in OM, and with a significant influence of the case study research method. Furthermore, we also propose that there is not just one type of DSR in OM, but two. The first type is practitioner-focused and highlights the empirical contributions and the results. The second is academy-focused and emphasises the methodology development and the understanding of how the results were generated. As those two types aim for different audiences, we believe that they will coexist in the future.

Behaviors of higher-order modes in I.H.P. SAW devices and discussion of their suppression

In this work, behaviors of higher-order modes in an I.H.P. SAW device with a layered LiTaO3/SiO2/SiN/Si substrate are investigated, and techniques for their suppression are discussed. First, variation of the higher-order mode responses with structural parameters are analyzed using two-dimensional FEM. Then, on the basis of the calculated data, structural parameters are determined for higher-order modes suppression while retaining the main mode characteristics. In addition, the effectiveness of the optimized structure is confirmed using measured data from a fabricated one-port resonator and filters. In the measured data, it is shown that higher-order modes in a specific frequency range are successfully suppressed, while the main made characteristics, such as Bode-Q, bandwidth, and TCF, are almost equivalent to those of conventional I.H.P. SAW resonators and filters.