Assessment Methods Research Articles

Toward the Circular Economy in the Aquaculture Sector: Bibliometric, Network and Content Analyses

This paper offers an overview of circular economy strategies applied to the aquaculture sector. The growing challenges imposed on the sector by the strategies of the Green Deal impose new growth strategies in the name of sustainability. The scalability of these strategies is increasingly hampered by regulatory voids and by the absence of a universally accepted assessment method for measuring the impacts of current aquaculture systems. More than ever, a review of knowledge in the circular economy field is required to comprehend where the aquaculture sector is heading, and in order to make the required transition. The present review proposes a bibliometric analysis, a network analysis and a content analysis, which highlight a very new and expanding field of research. The studies were firstly analyzed from a micro (animal metabolism) to a macro perspective (policies, markets and society), emphasizing where research is still lacking. Furthermore, a second level of classification concerns the type of circularity approach proposed for the aquaculture system, which can be divided into open-loop or closed-loop strategies. Regarding the open-loop-related studies, the focus of the evaluation is devoted to the different bioeconomic values of the circularity strategies proposed for the biological flows entering and exiting the aquaculture system. The literature review offered insights into the identification of research threads that are developing around the aquaculture sector.

Active Learning for Data Quality Control: A Survey

Data quality plays a vital role in scientific research and decision-making across industries. Thus, it is crucial to incorporate the data quality control (DQC) process, which comprises various actions and operations to detect and correct data errors. The increasing adoption of machine learning (ML) techniques in different domains has raised concerns about data quality in the ML field. Conversely, ML’s capability to uncover complex patterns makes it suitable for addressing challenges involved in the DQC process. However, supervised learning methods demand abundant labeled data, while unsupervised learning methods heavily rely on the underlying distribution of the data. Active learning (AL) provides a promising solution by proactively selecting data points for inspection, thus reducing the burden of data labeling for domain experts. Therefore, this survey focuses on applying AL to DQC. Starting with a review of common data quality issues and solutions in the ML field, we aim to enhance the understanding of current quality assessment methods. We then present two scenarios to illustrate the adoption of AL into the DQC systems on the anomaly detection task, including pool-based and stream-based approaches. Finally, we provide the remaining challenges and research opportunities in this field.

Probabilistic Techno-Economic Assessment of Medium-Scale Photoelectrochemical Fuel Generation Plants.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems are promising approaches for sustainable fuel processing. PEC devices, like conventional photovoltaic-electrolyzer (PV-EC) systems, utilize solar energy for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. Contrary to PV-EC systems, PEC devices integrate the photoabsorber, the ionic membrane, and the catalysts into a single reactor. This integration of elements potentially makes PEC systems simpler in design, increases efficiency, offers a cost advantage, and allows for implementation with higher flexibility in use. We present a detailed techno-economic evaluation of PEC systems with three different device designs. We combine a system-level techno-economic analysis based on physical performance models (including degradation) with stochastic methods for uncertainty assessments, also considering the use of PV and EC learning curves for future cost scenarios. For hydrogen, we assess different PEC device design options (utilizing liquid or water vapor as reactant) and compare them to conventional PV-EC systems (anion or cation exchange). We show that in the current scenario, PEC systems (with a levelized cost of hydrogen of 6.32 $/kgH2 ) located in southern Spain are not yet competitive, operating at 64% higher costs than the PV-driven anion exchange EC systems. Our analysis indicates that PEC plants' material and size are the most significant factors affecting hydrogen costs. PEC designs operating with water vapor are the most economical designs, with the potential to cost about 10% less than PV-EC systems and to reach a 2 $/kgH2 target by 2040. If a sunlight concentrator is incorporated, the PEC-produced hydrogen cost is significantly lower (3.59 $/kgH2 in the current scenario). Versions of the concentrated PEC system that incorporate reversible operation and CO2 reduction indicate a levelized cost of storage of 0.2803 $/kWh for the former and a levelized cost of CO of 0.546 $/kgCO for the latter. These findings demonstrate the competitiveness and viability of (concentrated) PEC systems and their versatile use cases. Our study shows the potential of PEC devices and systems for hydrogen production (current and future potential), storage applications, and CO production, thereby highlighting the importance of sustainable and cost-effective design considerations for future advancements in technology development in this field.

Is infliximab therapy currently relevant in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases? (review)

INTRODUCTION: genetically engineered biological drugs (GIBD) used in the treatment of moderate to severe inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) currently. Despite a significant improvement in disease outcomes, improvement in the quality of life of patients and a decrease in surgical activity, in the long term, it is often not possible to achieve full-fledged clinical and instrumental remission or the loose of response over time.OBJECTIVE: to systematize data on the efficacy and safety of IBD infliximab therapy, as well as methods of early and late efficacy assessment; indications, types and features of therapy optimization.CONCLUSIONS: despite the appearance of a relatively large number of new GIBD and TIS, the problem of inefficiency or loss of response remains. In our opinion, the solution to this problem may be the personification of the appointment and treatment regimens of GIBP. Currently, there are many studies devoted to both clinical and laboratory markers of prognostic importance in the management of patients with IBD during infliximab therapy. However, these studies are not localized for the Russian patient population. Multicenter studies on the Russian patient population are required.

Descriptors of the socio-cultural assessment of rural areas and the activities of the Presidential Grants Fund for the development of the socio-cultural space of rural areas

Introduction. The article examines the problem of the formation of a socio-cultural environment in rural areas with the direct participation of rural schools and non-profit organizations (NGOs) in this process. The current situation of education in rural areas is assessed using traditional methods of assessing educational organizations and, accordingly, the approaches applied to the education system in rural areas lead to the need to develop certain areas of rural school activity and socio-economic components of life and activity of the settlement, that is, rural and rural school development programs are implemented on the basis of traditional assessment. In this regard, in the new socio-economic and political conditions of the development of education and the socio-economic sector in rural areas, there is a need to understand the current requirements for the education system in rural areas of Russia and consider existing support measures from NGOs. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the need for the use of socio-cultural assessment of educationMaterials and Methods. The main method of research is a content and contextual continuous analysis of the text of the works submitted to the contest "My little Homeland" in the nomination "Village of my dreams – village of the future" and applications of the winners of the Presidential Grants Fund competition in the grant direction "Support of projects in the field of science, education, enlightenment" using the method of socio-cultural assessment of educational organizations, developed and published by us earlier.Results. Descriptors have been identified, the implementation of which will contribute to raising the level of criteria for the socio-cultural expediency of an educational institution in rural areas and, as a result, contribute to the formation of the necessary socio-cultural situation in rural areas. Working with descriptors will allow leveling or will contribute to improving the current socio-cultural and economic situation in rural areas of Russia. The analysis of the activities of the Presidential Grants Fund in the grant direction "Support of projects in the field of science, education, enlightenment" according to the results of the beginning of 2023 is made.Discussion and Conclusions. The conducted research proved the operability of descriptors and criteria of socio-cultural assessment to identify the needs of educational organizations and residents in rural areas of Russia. In the course of the study, it was found that the current activities of the Presidential Grants Fund through the activities of NGOs contribute to the support of projects in the field of science, education, and enlightenment in rural areas of Russia to a small extent. This study may be useful to federal, regional and local government bodies, including education, for monitoring the current situation in rural areas of Russia and making appropriate administrative decisions.

Comparative study of traditional and DNA-based methods for environmental impact assessment: A case study of marine aggregate extraction in the North Sea

Environmental impact assessments of marine aggregate extraction are traditionally conducted based on morphological characteristics of macrobenthos, which is time-consuming, labour-intensive and requires specific taxonomic expert knowledge. Bulk DNA metabarcoding is suggested as a promising alternative. This study compares the traditional morphological and the bulk DNA metabarcoding method to assess the impact of sand extraction activities on three sandbanks in the Belgian North Sea. Substantial differences in the detected species were observed between methods: Abundant and/or large macrobenthos species were detected by both methods, while small species or species with an exoskeleton were usually only detected by the morphological method. Taxa uniquely detected by bulk DNA metabarcoding could be explained by specimens identified at a higher taxonomic level by morphology, or by specimens with very low read numbers, probably representing species missed in the morphological sorting process, DNA traces on the specimens or false positives during PCR amplification efficiency. Despite the difference in detected species, comparable alpha and beta diversity patterns were observed by both methods, indicating that bulk DNA metabarcoding can effectively detect the overall ecological changes associated with sand extraction. We further demonstrate that bulk DNA metabarcoding reduces sample processing both in time (44 % faster) and cost (26 % cheaper) compared to the morphology-based identification. However, biomass quantification remains challenging for bulk DNA metabarcoding since of the ten most abundant genera, only two genera (Echinocardium and Ophelia) showed a significant positive correlation between biomass and read numbers. Additionally, bulk DNA metabarcoding does not provide information on life stages or size of the identified specimens. As such, our results underpin the complementary nature of both methods, wherein DNA-based analyses allow for rapid detection of community changes (as similar patterns in alpha and beta diversity and biotic index were observed), while morphology-based analyses provide additional information on e.g. secondary production (biomass) and size composition. We show how the strengths of both methods can be combined to assess the impact of sand extraction.

Efficacy of gabapentin phonophoresis on post mastectomy intercostobrachial neuralgia

Aim. To investigate the efficacy of gabapentin phonophoresis for neuropathic pain management in intercostobrachial neuralgia cases. Material and methods. Fifty-seven females with intercostobrachial neuralgia were randomly collected then allocated into two groups, Study group (gabapentin phonophoresis) and Control group (gabapentin gel). Study group: received gabapentin phonophoresis 4 times/week for 4 weeks (a total of 16 sessions) using continuous ultrasound (1 MHz, 1.5 W/cm², for 5 minutes). Control group: received topical 6% w/w gabapentin gel three times per day for 4 weeks on the affected site. The methods of assessment included visual analogue scale (VAS) and Neuropathic pain scale (NPS). All measurements were collected before the beginning of the study and after the end of the treatment (after 4 weeks). Results. There was no significant difference between both groups in VAS (= 0.43) and NPS (= 0.46) pre-treatment. Comparison between groups post treatment revealed a significant decrease in VAS and NPS of study group compared with that of control group (p < 0.001). The percentage of decrease in VAS of study group and control group was 51.32% and 43.03% respectively while the percent of decrease in NPS was 50.79% and 45.05% respectively. Conclusion. It was concluded that conduction of gabapentin gel topically or by using phonophoresis is safe and effective method for neuropathic pain management and can alleviate pain intensity; however, phonophoresis achieved better results and was superior to traditional gel application.

IMPLEMENTASI METODE WEIGHTED AGGREGATED SUM PRODUCT ASSESMENT DALAM MENENTUKAN KEDELAI TERBAIK PRODUKSI TAHU, TEMPE

This research aims to implement the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment method in identifying soybeans as raw materials in the production of tofu and tempeh. Tofu and tempeh production often experiences production failures, such as the tofu compaction process being insufficient or the texture being too dense, the tempeh fermentation process being less than optimal and so on. This is influenced by poor soybean raw materials, both in terms of texture and color and the selection of soybeans which is still done directly by looking at the color and brand. Meanwhile, these two things do not necessarily correspond to the right criteria for tofu and tempeh production. In this research, the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment method was used in making decisions to determine the best soybeans for producing tofu and tempeh based on 4 selection criteria, namely soy color, soy size, soy moisture and soy texture. All these criteria are then processed to obtain the best soybean results that are appropriate for the raw material for making tofu and tempe, namely soybeans from the Ahok supplier with a value of 4.475.

Complex Assessment of the Functional State of the Urinary System in Preclinical Studies. Part 1. Instrumental and Laboratory Assessment Methods (Review)

Complex Assessment of the Functional State of the Urinary System in Preclinical Studies. Part 1. Instrumental and Laboratory Assessment Methods (Review)

Proof of concept: real-time viability and metabolic profiling of probiotics with isothermal microcalorimetry.

Isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC) is a potent analytical method for the real-time assessment of microbial metabolic activity, which serves as an indicator of microbial viability. This approach is highly relevant to the fields of probiotics and Live Biotherapeutic Products (LBPs), offering insights into microbial viability and growth kinetics. One important characteristic of IMC is its ability to measure microbial metabolic activity separately from cellular enumeration. This is particularly useful in situations where continuous tracking of bacterial activity is challenging. The focus on metabolic activity significantly benefits both probiotic research and industrial microbiology applications. IMC's versatility in handling different media matrices allows for the implementation of viability assessments under conditions that mirror those found in various industrial environments or biological models. In our study, we provide a proof of concept for the application of IMC in determining viability and growth dynamics and their correlation with bacterial count in probiotic organisms. Our findings reinforce the potential of IMC as a key method for process enhancement and accurate strain characterization within the probiotic sector. This supports the broader objective of refining the systematic approach and methods used during the development process, thereby providing detailed insights into probiotics and LBPs.

This Is What Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Looks Like: Potential of a Multiparametric MRI Protocol.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a prevalent condition with a broad spectrum defined by liver biopsy. This gold standard method evaluates three features: steatosis, activity (ballooning and lobular inflammation), and fibrosis, attributing them to certain grades or stages using a semiquantitative scoring system. However, liver biopsy is subject to numerous restrictions, creating an unmet need for a reliable and reproducible method for MASLD assessment, grading, and staging. Noninvasive imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), offer the potential to assess quantitative liver parameters. This review aims to provide an overview of the available MRI techniques for the three criteria evaluated individually by liver histology. Here, we discuss the possibility of combining multiple MRI parameters to replace liver biopsy with a holistic, multiparametric MRI protocol. In conclusion, the development and implementation of such an approach could significantly improve the diagnosis and management of MASLD, reducing the need for invasive procedures and paving the way for more personalized treatment strategies.

Reliance on self-reports and estimated food composition data in nutrition research introduces significant bias that can only be addressed with biomarkers.

The chemical composition of foods is complex, variable, and dependent on many factors. This has a major impact on nutrition research as it foundationally affects our ability to adequately assess the actual intake of nutrients and other compounds. In spite of this, accurate data on nutrient intake are key for investigating the associations and causal relationships between intake, health, and disease risk at the service of developing evidence-based dietary guidance that enables improvements in population health. Here, we exemplify the importance of this challenge by investigating the impact of food content variability on nutrition research using three bioactives as model: flavan-3-ols, (-)-epicatechin, and nitrate. Our results show that common approaches aimed at addressing the high compositional variability of even the same foods impede the accurate assessment of nutrient intake generally. This suggests that the results of many nutrition studies using food composition data are potentially unreliable and carry greater limitations than commonly appreciated, consequently resulting in dietary recommendations with significant limitations and unreliable impact on public health. Thus, current challenges related to nutrient intake assessments need to be addressed and mitigated by the development of improved dietary assessment methods involving the use of nutritional biomarkers.

Early cognitive assessment in premature infants: the discriminatory value of eye-tracking vs. Bayley Scales.

The testing of visuocognitive development in preterm infants shows strong interactions between perinatal characteristics and cognition, learning and overall neurodevelopment evolution. The assessment of anticipatory gaze data of object-location bindings via eye-tracking can predict the neurodevelopment of preterm infants at the age of 3 years; little is known, however, about the early cognitive function and its assessment methods during the first year of life. The current study presents data from a novel assessment tool, a Delayed Match Retrieval (DMR) paradigm via eye-tracking was used to measure visual working memory (VWM) and attention skills. The eye-tracking task that was designed to measure infants' ability to actively localize objects and to make online predictions of object-location bindings. 63 infants participated in the study, 39 preterm infants and 24 healthy full term infants - at a corrected age of 8-9 months for premature infants and similar chronological age for full term infants. Infants were also administered the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. The analysis of the Bayley scores showed no significant difference between the two groups while the eye-tracking data showed a significant group effect on all measurements. Moreover, preterm infants' VWM performance was significantly lower than full term's. Birth weight affected the gaze time on all Areas Of Interest (AOIs), overall VWM performance and the scores at the Cognitive Bayley subscale. Furthermore, preterm infants with fetal growth restriction (FGR) showed significant performance effects in the eye-tracking measurements but not on their Bayley scores verifying the high discriminatory value of the eye gaze data. Visual working memory and attention as measured via eye-tracking is a non-intrusive, painless, short duration procedure (approx. 4-min) was found to be a significant tool for identifying prematurity and FGR effects on the development of cognition during the first year of life. Bayley Scales alone may not pick up these deficits. Identifying tools for early neurodevelopmental assessments and cognitive function is important in order to enable earlier support and intervention in the vulnerable group of premature infants, given the associations between foundational executive functional skills and later cognitive and academic ability.

The method for calculating phase angle between exciter force of vibration exciter and roller displacement

Introduction. In the process of soil compaction it is important to have information about the current density of the layer, as it enables to quickly adjust the load on the compacted material. The field methods of compaction quality assessment do not cope with this task, as they make point estimation within the pavement area. Therefore, continuous compaction monitoring systems installed on vibratory road rollers are becoming increasingly common. The systems developed by BOMAG and AMMANN require, among other things, the phase angle between the exciter force and the roller movement to calculate the compaction quality index. The phase angle is determined by the unbalance position sensor, which is very labor-intensive. In addition, continuous compaction monitoring systems include an accelerometer. The purpose of this paper is to develop an indirect method for calculating the phase angle from accelerometer readings.The method of research. In order to achieve the purpose of the work, a roller-soil single-mass model in a typical mode for vibratory rollers (periodic loss of contact) has been studied. As a result of modeling it has been found that the reaction of the compacted material has the main influence on the vertical component of a roller acceleration and practically does not affect the horizontal component. This is confirmed by the experimental data.Results. The phase angle can be determined by mutual correlation of the horizontal and vertical acceleration signals of the roller obtained with the accelerometer.Conclusion. The study proposes a new method of calculating the phase angle between the exciter force and the roller displacement, which eliminates the direct measurement of this angle. The calculation of the angle is based on the readings of a two-axis accelerometer installed on the road roller. The proposed method enables to simplify the system of continuous compaction control and reduce the labor intensity of phase angle measurement.

The Comprehensive Whole Process Risk Assessment Method of Mine Multi-factor

The Comprehensive Whole Process Risk Assessment Method of Mine Multi-factor

A demand-based three-stage seismic resilience assessment and multi-objective optimization method of community water distribution networks

This paper proposes a three-stage resilience concept that takes into account reliability, vulnerability and recovery resilience of water distribution networks (WDNs) from three phases, namely, pre-disaster preparation (PDP) phase, disaster response (DR) phase and the post-disaster recovery (PDR) phase. Based on the three-stage resilience concept, the initial performance, robustness and multi-objective optimization recovery method are proposed. In PDP phase, based on the reliability concept and the user demand, the initial performance of WDNs is defined, and the method is proposed based on Monte Carlo simulation method combined with seismic fragility of pipelines. In DR phase, a comprehensive quantitative index is proposed to quantify the robustness of WDNs by integrating the structural attributes, topological attributes and operational characteristics of WDNs. Finally, on the basis of the previous two stages, the disaster recovery process of failed pipelines of WDNs is further analyzed, and a multi-objective recovery optimization model of failed pipelines with consideration of users’ demands under the resources constraints is proposed to achieve the resilience enhancement. Through a case, the three-stage resilience assessment optimization enhancement of WDNs is implemented using the improved NSGA-II. The proposed method can be used as a basis for disaster prevention planning and seismic measures.

Life cycle–based assessment methods for circular economy strategies in the agri-food sector

Life cycle–based assessment methods for circular economy strategies in the agri-food sector

Multi-analyte proteomic analysis identifies blood-based neuroinflammation, cerebrovascular and synaptic biomarkers in preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

Blood-based biomarkers are gaining grounds for Alzheimer's disease (AD) detection. However, two key obstacles need to be addressed: the lack of methods for multi-analyte assessments and the need for markers of neuroinflammation, vascular, and synaptic dysfunction. Here, we evaluated a novel multi-analyte biomarker platform, NULISAseq CNS disease panel, a multiplex NUcleic acid-linked Immuno-Sandwich Assay (NULISA) targeting ~120 analytes, including classical AD biomarkers and key proteins defining various disease hallmarks. The NULISAseq panel was applied to 176 plasma samples from the MYHAT-NI cohort of cognitively normal participants from an economically underserved region in Western Pennsylvania. Classical AD biomarkers, including p-tau181 p-tau217, p-tau231, GFAP, NEFL, Aβ40, and Aβ42, were also measured using Single Molecule Array (Simoa). Amyloid pathology, tau pathology, and neurodegeneration were evaluated with [11C] PiB PET, [18F]AV-1451 PET, and MRI, respectively. Linear mixed models were used to examine cross-sectional and Wilcoxon rank sum tests for longitudinal associations between NULISA biomarkers and AD pathologies. Spearman correlations were used to compare NULISA and Simoa. NULISA concurrently measured 116 plasma biomarkers with good technical performance, and good correlation with Simoa measures. Cross-sectionally, p-tau217 was the top hit to identify Aβ pathology, with age, sex, and APOE genotype-adjusted AUC of 0.930 (95%CI: 0.878-0.983). Fourteen markers were significantly decreased in Aβ-PET+ participants, including TIMP3, which regulates brain Aβ production, the neurotrophic factor BDNF, the energy metabolism marker MDH1, and several cytokines. Longitudinally, FGF2, IL4, and IL9 exhibited Aβ PET-dependent yearly increases in Aβ-PET+ participants. Markers with tau PET-dependent longitudinal changes included the microglial activation marker CHIT1, the reactive astrogliosis marker CHI3L1, the synaptic protein NPTX1, and the cerebrovascular markers PGF, PDGFRB, and VEFGA; all previously linked to AD but only reliably measured in cerebrospinal fluid. SQSTM1, the autophagosome cargo protein, exhibited a significant association with neurodegeneration status after adjusting age, sex, and APOE ε4 genotype. Together, our results demonstrate the feasibility and potential of immunoassay-based multiplexing to provide a comprehensive view of AD-associated proteomic changes. Further validation of the identified inflammation, synaptic, and vascular markers will be important for establishing disease state markers in asymptomatic AD.

The Prevalence of Dysphagia in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The Prevalence of Dysphagia in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Anti-saccade as a tool to evaluate cognitive impairment in vestibular migraine

Anti-saccade as a tool to evaluate cognitive impairment in vestibular migraine