Stages Of Process Research Articles

CFD-guided scaling of Pseudomonas putida fermentation

This study evaluated the scale-up of Pseudomonas putida fed-batch fermentation from a 2 L benchtop-scale stirred bioreactor to a 200 L pilot-scale tank by using a validated computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model. One of the major concerns in this fermentation process is the potential reduction in mixing quality with increasing scale, leading to lower yield or product quality. For a low-risk scale-up, a multiphase Euler-Euler CFD model was developed that simulated the hydrodynamics of the fed-batch system at various filling volumes, representing different stages of the fermentation process. The model was validated using experimental data of mixing time and mass transfer coefficient. The hydrodynamic model was then coupled with a Monod kinetic model of P. putida ‘s fermentation. Response surface methodology was used to generate a performance map of the pilot bioreactor at various aeration, agitation, and bioreactor filling volumes. The study considered different established scale-up approaches, such as constant tip speed and aeration rate across scales, constant kLa, as well as constant power to unit of liquid volume (P/V). The performance of the bioreactor was assessed, and the optimum operating ranges of the input parameters were obtained at different stages of the fermentation. Using performance map the possibility of substrate and oxygen gradient formation, and the gradient severity inside the pilot bioreactor at different working volumes were evaluated.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimation Using Extended Input–Output Tables for Thailand’s Biomass Pellet Industry

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Thailand’s biomass pellet production were comprehensively assessed, with a specific focus on wood and corn pellets. Employing the extended input and output tables, the anticipated economic and environmental effects of the rising demand for biomass pellets within the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation region, which is projected to see an increase exceeding 33% by the year 2050, were investigated. The estimations of CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions, which were conducted utilizing an open Leontief model based on the 2015 National Input–Output Tables, covered each stage of the production process. The results show that emissions from the production of corn pellets are expected to rise steadily, from 52.91 MtCO2e in 2022 to 75.77 MtCO2e by 2030, whereas emissions from wood pellet production are set to increase more substantially, from 210.30 to 301.18 MtCO2e within the same timeframe. Data derived from surveys and interviews with corn farmers and wood pellet manufacturers informed the lifecycle data for the biomass pellet supply chain from cradle to gate. The findings suggest that Thailand’s power sector could benefit significantly from the biomass potential in the northern part of Thailand, which boasts an estimated energy content of corncob at 39 ktoe (0.0016 TJ). Market demand scenarios were explored in two forms: one where it was assumed that all biomass pellets are to be exported to Japan and South Korea, expecting a combined demand of approximately 560,262 tons by 2030, and another positing that 10% of production will be reserved for the domestic market, with a forecasted annual increase of 10% from 2020 to 2050. This paper highlights the need to prioritize low-emission renewable energy sources, expand technologies with lower lifecycle emissions, optimize the biomass supply chain to enhance efficiency, and introduce sustainable energy practices. The detailed GHG emissions analysis provides critical insights for policy formulation, underscoring the importance of sustainable transitions in the context of increasing biomass demand.

2.Y.1. Communication in participatory health research with refugees and migrants

Abstract Innovative approaches are needed to transform public health research and address health inequities. Participatory Health Research (PHR) is one such approach, which aims to maximize the participation of those whose life or work is the subject of the research in all stages of the research process. PHR has advantages for both research outcomes, including increased relevance, meaningfulness and impact of research, as well as for those involved, in terms of ownership and empowerment to address their health priorities. PHR with migrants has potential to reduce health inequities through the active involvement of migrants in research about their health. In a framework for refugee and migrant health in the WHO European Region, MacFarlane et al. (2022) recommend the research field of migration and health to adopt PHR as the norm, for ethical reasons and to support effective research-policy-practice translation. PHR with migrants is increasingly used but is still rare and adhoc in the field of migration health research. There are also potential practical and ethical challenges that warrant critical reflection. One persistent challenge is communication, where differences in culture, language and knowledge areas need to be considered in multiple ways, for example, in the development of participatory partnerships, in the conduct of data collection that takes place as a result of such participatory partnerships and in dissemination processes. The aim of the workshop is to share different approaches on PHR with migrants and propose solutions to common challenges in communication. The workshop will be structured in a first part where presenters will draw upon their experience in PHR with refugees and migrants covering a broad range of topics relating to communication, and a second part of open discussion with presenters and the audience. The workshop will address two key questions: what challenges have we experienced, and lessons learnt. Anne MacFarlane presents emerging evidence about music and singing as culturally attuned arts based methods that can create innovative opportunities for communication for partnership building, fieldwork and dissemination. Ana Gama presents on using idea-generation workshops with vignettes representing migrants with diverse health-literacy profiles and its potential to address communication challenges. Key messages • Participatory health research with migrants warrants critical reflection around communication, ethics and partnership-building. • In participatory health research, using innovative and creative methods can create opportunities to overcome communication barriers and build meaningful collaborations. Speakers/Panelists Anne MacFarlane University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland Ana Gama IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

The problem of knowing future phenomena

The paper is devoted to the problem of epistemic conditions of cognition of future phenomena.The problem is that the cognizable aspects of information are based on the evolutionary mechanisms of adaptation of the body, which are reduced in humans, and on the rational principles of human cognition, which are mixed with irrational prophecies. The solution is to separate the heuristic possibilities of theory from empirical guesses and consider the structures of theoretical knowledge that process information about possible and impossible facts.The aim of the paper is to discover a mental act directed at the future, which cannot be reduced to extrapolating the past and varying alternatives. The conditions of the possibility of knowing about the reality of the future as a mode of time, and the idea of a specific event in the future are split.The following hypothesis is considered: cognition of the future is based on thinking about the possible and necessary relations of an object to an integral system including a subject.The attitude of the mind towards the future is not a cognitive act like receiving information, the source of which is problematic. This is not animal foresight, not divination, not planning. Cognition is understood not as a perception of the objective properties of a phenomenon, but as its construction according to the rules of the organization of consciousness. In general, the future is not knowable, but there are types of phenomena other than the causal concept of cognition that justify information about the future. Theoretical knowledge of the predispositions of a situation involving an object is proactive. The subject of prediction is not only the truth about the future, but also a judgment about what exactly will not happen. This limitation narrows the scope of possible alternatives. The elementary acts of realizing that an event is not yet happening have been investigated by the phenomenology of Buddhism. They are directed at the stages of the same process. The conclusion from content of one temporal interval to content of another interval is based on theoretical constructions that do not have spatiotemporal characteristics. Information about the future is limited by theoretical knowledge of the holistic situation and the properties of the object that arise as a result of its inclusion in this situation.

Land covers associated with forest expansion hot spots in the Nepal Himalaya

Abstract Many regions of the Himalaya are experiencing forest expansion, signifying a widespread forest transition across this fragile mountain system. In the Nepal Himalaya, forest expansion is increasingly attributed to the narrative of cropland abandonment driven by rural outmigration. Understanding forest change dynamics as consequences of land use changes is critical in the context of rural mountain societies such as Nepal, which exhibit complex interactions between forest, agriculture, and livelihoods. We analysed forest gain in Nepal from 2000–2019 to inquire where and when forests have expanded and what land covers transitioned into forests. We integrated spatiotemporal analysis of national land cover maps and photointerpretation of very high resolution (VHR) imagery to improve analytical estimates. The Middle Mountain physiographic region experienced the strongest hot spots of forest gains relative to the high mountains or lowlands. Visual interpretation of VHR showed that 68.8% of forest gains since 2000 occurred on shrubland, and 26.5% on cropland. The dominance of shrubland-forest transitions implied that shrubland is an intermediate stage in a multi-decadal succession process, or a semi-permanent state such as arrested succession. Notably however, we also detected cropland-forest transitions occurring as fast as 6–10 years, indicating the potential for rapid forest succession if biophysical conditions permit. Thus, variations in land cover transitions to forests in the hills implicated multiple pathways of forest regeneration, reflecting a variety of spatiotemporally explicit drivers. Our results differ from previous studies because VHR image analysis accounted for land cover classification errors and improved land cover quantification. Further research on spatially explicit mechanisms and drivers of forest gain are needed to understand the synergies of forest, agriculture, and livelihoods to inform land use land cover policies that could be leveraged to enhance rural mountain livelihoods.

Electron-impact excitation data for W2+ in support of tungsten spectroscopy and re-deposition measurements for magnetically-confined plasmas

Abstract To better understand plasma wall interactions involving tungsten, accurate atomic structure and electron-impact driven collisional processes for near-neutral ion stages of tungsten are required. Complementing existing work on neutral and singly ionised tungsten, atomic structure and collisional calculations for W2+ electron-impact excitation have been completed. These excitation calculations are an important component of S/XB coefficients for near-neutral charge states, which may be used to spectroscopically infer re-deposition of tungsten at the plasma-solid boundary of fusion relevant devices. With W2+ in particular having emission lines that can be observed at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, while higher charge states of tungsten are unlikely to have lines possible to observe outside of the vacuum UV range. The atomic structure was generated using the General-purpose Relativistic Atomic Structure Package (GRASP0), implementing the Multi-configuration Dirac Fock approach. This structure was the basis for a subsequent Dirac R-matrix electron-impact excitation calculation to provide Maxwellian averaged rate coefficients. A synthetic spectrum was generated from this data using a collisional-radiative model to predict the strongest W III spectral lines and these lines were compared to emission from the Compact Toroidal Hybrid (CTH) plasma device. Several of the strongest W III lines are observed in CTH and agree well with the modelled line wavelengths and intensities, a table of these lines is provided that could be observed in other devices.

Strengthening ecosystems

Abstract The mission of THCS activities with respect to strengthening ecosystems is based on the understanding that the actual transformation of health and care systems is dependent on the ability of numerous actors to align their goals and actions so that they are complementary. At the same time, it is also true that the transformation takes place at national, regional and local levels, making activities and support at these levels essential for the success of THCS. Therefore, the focus lies on connecting and supporting the broad community and other stakeholders in developing ecosystem-wide approaches and creating awareness and urgency among ecosystem layers and components, thus serving as a platform for transformation. One strand of activities for strengthening ecosystems aims at identifying, analysing, describing and disseminating key learnings from successful transformative ecosystems (TE’s). TE’s are broad constellations of interacting organisations and people who are committed, and through aligned actions, able to reach joint, explicitly defined goals in long-term. Making not only the most successful TE’s but also the dynamics explaining their achievements visible, value is being added through three main routes. Firstly, the experiences are distributed widely on European arenas and platforms as well as through national, regional and local channels to inspire ecosystem building processes in earlier stages of maturity. Secondly, collaboration between identified forerunner ecosystems is supported to enable mutual peer-learning. Thirdly, the examples are used to give guidance and inspiration to consortia that are applying for or receiving THCS project funding. As strategic partners of the ecosystem strengthening activities, other work packages of the THCS programme as well as the THCS National Mirror Groups are of great importance.

YOLO-DHGC: Small Object Detection Using Two-Stream Structure with Dense Connections.

Small object detection, which is frequently applied in defect detection, medical imaging, and security surveillance, often suffers from low accuracy due to limited feature information and blurred details. This paper proposes a small object detection method named YOLO-DHGC, which employs a two-stream structure with dense connections. Firstly, a novel backbone network, DenseHRNet, is introduced. It innovatively combines a dense connection mechanism with high-resolution feature map branches, effectively enhancing feature reuse and cross-layer fusion, thereby obtaining high-level semantic information from the image. Secondly, a two-stream structure based on an edge-gated branch is designed. It uses higher-level information from the regular detection stream to eliminate irrelevant interference remaining in the early processing stages of the edge-gated stream, allowing it to focus on processing information related to shape boundaries and accurately capture the morphological features of small objects. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed YOLO-DHGC method, we conducted experiments on several public datasets and a self-constructed dataset. Exceptionally, a defect detection accuracy of 96.3% was achieved on the Market-PCB public dataset, demonstrating the effectiveness of our method in detecting small object defects for industrial applications.

The structure and formation of non-volatile memory cells of Superflash

Split-gate embedded Flash memory technology has been around for decades and has become the standard for a wide range of devices, such as microcontrollers and smart cards. Among the, due to a number of advantages, Silicon Storage Technology Super Flash non-volatile memory technology has become the most widespread. This article presents the results of a study of the memory cells structure, examines in detail the principle of their operation and the main technological stages of the production process of forming transistor structures.

Two languages, two emotional minds in one brain: processing emotion-label and emotion-laden words by Chinese-English bilinguals

ABSTRACT The present study examined the neural correlates of emotion effects evoked by emotion-label and emotion-laden nouns in Chinese-English bilinguals’ two languages through the emotion categorization tasks. At the perceptual processing stage, only L2 emotion-label and emotion-laden nouns induced amplified N100 than neutral nouns. At the semantic processing stage, relative to neutral nouns, L2 negative emotion-laden nouns triggered heightened EEPN, and L1 emotion-laden nouns evoked marginally smaller EEPN; only L2 emotion-laden and positive emotion-label nouns exhibited augmented LEPN; L2 positive emotion-label and L1 emotion-label and emotion-laden nouns displayed reduced N400. At the integration processing stage, L2 positive nouns showed larger LPC and L1 positive nouns displayed smaller LPC than neutral nouns. These results verified emotion word type hypothesis across languages, and also implied that emotional attributes were encoded within both perceptual and semantic representations in L2, and predominantly within semantic representation in L1.

Enhancing visual working memory in schizophrenia: effects of frontoparietal theta tACS in low-performing patients

Schizophrenia is a complex neuro-psychiatric disorder including positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive deficits. A key cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia is a deficit in visual working memory (VWM). VWM involves three distinct stages: encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. The deficit in any one stage would produce the same symptom (i.e., poor VWM), although their causes are not the same. In this study, we used a retro-cue VWM task that provides helpful cues at different stages: early in maintenance (early cue), late in maintenance (late cue), or during retrieval (retrieval cue). This modification would help “tag” or identify the cognitive stage(s) most responsible for impaired VWM performance in schizophrenia. Additionally, we took advantage of this tagging feature and applied 6 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and right posterior parietal cortex (PPC)—which has previously been shown to enhance VWM in low-performing healthy individuals—to examine whether tACS would improve a specific stage or all stages of VWM processing in schizophrenia. We observed that cues significantly enhanced performance in low-performing patients, who benefited equally from early and late maintenance cues, but not from retrieval cues. These low-performers also responded well to theta tACS in their overall VWM performance as opposed to a specific VWM stage. No improvement effect was observed in high-performing patients for both retro cue and tACS. Together, our data suggest that 1) low-performing patients’ VWM deficits likely stem from poor memory consolidation rather than retrieval, 2) right frontoparietal theta tACS can improve low-performing patients’ VWM performance, and 3) such facilitatory tACS effect is not selective of a specific VWM stage and thus is likely driven by an improvement in overall visual attention.

A Nature-based Solutions Framework for Embedding Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation into Urban Land Use Plans through Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

Climate change impacts comprise a particular challenge for authorities when reconciling the implications of land use planning decisions. Whilst Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is typically applied to the development of urban land use plans, the selection of mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change impacts can have knock-on effects on nature. However, Nature-based Solutions (NbSs) could provide an innovative means of addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation without these knock-on effects. The main aim of this research is therefore to propose a conceptual framework for embedding NbSs into the main stages of the SEA process to potentially enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban land use planning. This is achieved through a systematic literature review of academic and grey literature sources, with subsequent content analysis. This study demonstrates the value of matching these manifold NbS approaches to climate change impacts potentially addressed in SEA process stages and suggests how this might be achieved in practice focusing on urban land use plans.

Embodied Semantics: Early Simultaneous Motor Grounding in First and Second Languages

Background/Objectives: Although the embodiment of action-related language is well-established in the mother tongue (L1), less is known about the embodiment of a second language (L2) acquired later in life through formal instruction. We used the high temporal resolution of ERPs and topographic ERP analyses to compare embodiment in L1 and L2 and to investigate whether L1 and L2 are embodied with different strengths at different stages of linguistic processing. Methods: Subjects were presented with action-related and non-action-related verbs in a silent reading task. Subjects were late French–German and German–French bilinguals, respectively, and we could therefore collapse across languages to avoid common confounding between language (French and German) and order of acquisition (L1, L2). Results: We could show distinct effects of embodiment and language. Embodiment affected only the sensory and lexical stages of processing with increased strength and power of the N1 component for motor vs. non-motor verbs, and language affected the lexical and semantic stages of processing with stronger P2/N400 components for L2 than for L1. Non-motor verbs elicited a stronger P1 component in L2. Conclusions: Our results suggest that processing words in L2 requires more effortful processing. Importantly, L1 and L2 are not embodied differently, and embodiment affects early and similar stages of processing in L1 and L2, possibly integrating other process of action–language interaction

Few-femtosecond time-resolved study of the UV-induced dissociative dynamics of iodomethane

Ultraviolet (UV) light that penetrates our atmosphere initiates various photochemical and photobiological processes. However, the absence of extremely short UV pulses has so far hindered our ability to fully capture the mechanisms at the very early stages of such processes. This is important because the concerted motion of electrons and nuclei in the first few femtoseconds often determines molecular reactivity. Here we investigate the dissociative dynamics of iodomethane following UV photoexcitation, utilizing mass spectrometry with a 5 fs time resolution. The short duration of the UV pump pulse (4.2 fs) allows the ultrafast dynamics to be investigated in the absence of any external field, from well before any significant vibrational displacement occurs until dissociation has taken place. The experimental results combined with semi-classical trajectory calculations provide the identification of the main dissociation channels and indirectly reveal the signature of a conical intersection in the time-dependent yield of the iodine ion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the UV-induced breakage of the C-I bond can be prevented when the molecule is ionized by the probe pulse within 5 fs after the UV excitation, showcasing an ultrafast stabilization scheme against dissociation.

Impact behavior of the SCS panel with hybrid energy absorbing components: Experimental and analytical studies

A new steel-concrete-steel panel with front aluminum foam layer and rear energy absorbing connector (SCS-FL-EAC) was firstly developed. The dynamic behavior of SCS-FL-EAC was studied through conducting drop-weight impact tests. Three stages of impact process of SCS-FL-EAC were identified. The aluminum foam layer and energy absorbing connector were crushed under impact loading. The aluminum foam layer reached densification, and a local indention was observed beneath the projectile. Plastic hinges were also found at the corners of the pleated steel plate of the energy absorbing connector. The SCS panel exhibited the combination of bi-linear global flexural deformation and local deformation. Furthermore, the effects of aluminum foam layer on the impact resistant performances of SCS-FL-EAC were investigated. The results indicated that the inclusion of the aluminum foam layer effectively mitigated inertial effects and reduced the maximum impact force. Additionally, the SCS-FL-EAC demonstrated improved impact-resistant performances with an increased thickness of the aluminum foam layer. Furthermore, an analytical model was proposed to predict the force and displacement responses of SCS-FL-EAC subjected to impact load, and the predicted impact responses showed good agreement with experimental results.

A strong association between Modic changes type 2 and endplate defects at non-fused segments after ACDF

To determine the association between Modic changes (MC) with other MRI parameters and clinical symptoms of cervical degenerative disc disease (DDD). A retrospective analysis of data on patients with cervical DDD who underwent single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Preoperative demographic data (age, sex, surgical data) were collected, cervical MRI parameters (disc degeneration grade, MC and endplate defects, each determined at each cervical level) and clinical data (Numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) neck and arm, the Neck Disability Index (NDI)) were compared to preoperative data. The study included 121 patients at Visit 1 and 83 patients at Visit 2. The median follow-up duration was 26.5 [18.9; 33.1] months. Patients with MC had more intense NPRS-based neck pain before surgery compared to patients without MC (p=0.001). There were significant changes in MC rate at the C5-C6 levels due to a significant number of new MCs type 1 and MCs type 2 (p=0.002 and p<0.001, respectively). MC type 2 was associated with disc degeneration, endplate defects defects, patients' age and clinical scales (NDI, NPRS) (p<0.05). The endplate defects defect score threshold for predicting MC type 2 at the С3-С7 cervical levels was 5. The factor predicting MC type 2 at the C3-C7 cervical levels is submaximal damage to the endplate. The MC rate is increased due to MC type 1 and MC type 2. MC types at the cervical levels may not represent consecutive stages of the same process.

The representational geometry for naturalistic textures in macaque V1 and V2.

Our understanding of visual cortical processing has relied primarily on studying the selectivity of individual neurons in different areas. A complementary approach is to study how the representational geometry of neuronal populations differs across areas. Though the geometry is derived from individual neuronal selectivity, it can reveal encoding strategies difficult to infer from single neuron responses. In addition, recent theoretical work has begun to relate distinct functional objectives to different representational geometries. To understand how the representational geometry changes across stages of processing, we measured neuronal population responses in primary visual cortex (V1) and area V2 of macaque monkeys to an ensemble of synthetic, naturalistic textures. Responses were lower dimensional in V2 than V1, and there was a better alignment of V2 population responses to different textures. The representational geometry in V2 afforded better discriminability between out-of-sample textures. We performed complementary analyses of standard convolutional network models, which did not replicate the representational geometry of cortex. We conclude that there is a shift in the representational geometry between V1 and V2, with the V2 representation exhibiting features of a low-dimensional, systematic encoding of different textures and of different instantiations of each texture. Our results suggest that comparisons of representational geometry can reveal important transformations that occur across successive stages of visual processing.

Evaluating the high‐temperature resistance of self‐compacting mortar incorporating waste andesite powder as a mineral admixture

AbstractSignificant amounts of waste material are generated at various stages of andesite stone processing, including mining, cutting, and polishing. Despite this, limited research has been conducted on the potential use of waste andesite powder (WAP) as a mineral admixture. The impact of WAP on the high‐temperature resistance of cement‐based composites remains largely unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the benefits of incorporating WAP as a partial substitute for Portland cement. Self‐compacting mortars (SCMs) with varying WAP replacement rates (5%–30%) were produced and subjected to temperatures of 300°C, 600°C, and 900°C. Additionally, ternary mixtures of WAP and silica fume were produced for comparative analysis. The results showed that SCMs containing up to 10% WAP exhibited higher 90‐day compressive strength compared to the control sample. Furthermore, WAP inclusion improved high‐temperature resistance, and the use of WAP at higher replacement rates was feasible when combined with mineral admixtures possessing high pozzolanic activity, such as silica fume.

Endoscopic diagnosis of laryngeal precancerous lesions and early laryngeal cancer

ISince laryngeal cancer currently occupies a leading position in frequency of occurrence among all tumors of the upper respiratory tract of modern humans, the importance of its detection at an early stage of development cannot be overestimated. Existing diagnostic methods using rigid endoscopes, including direct and indirect laryngoscopy, have significant limitations in a number of patients. The use of modern video endoscopic technology allows diagnosing precancerous lesions and laryngeal cancer at an early stage of the tumor process, which significantly expands the possibilities of minimally invasive organ-preserving treatment.

The Mathematical Literacy Process Based on The Students' Mathematical Resilience

Mathematical literacy is very important in daily life, however, the mathematical literacy of Indonesian students is still low. Improving mathematical literacy requires a resilient and unyielding attitude known as mathematical resilience. This study aims to find out the process of mathematical literacy reviewed from the mathematical resilience of students. This research uses a qualitative method. The subject of this study is a grade VIII student at one of the junior high schools in Semarang City. Data collection uses questionnaires, written tests, interviews and documentation. Data analysis uses triangulation techniques. The results of the study show that the students' mathematical literacy process has not been optimally achieved against the existing stages of the mathematical literacy process.