Time Span Research Articles

Ultrasound-assisted annealing treatment to improve physicochemical and digestive properties of banana flour.

Banana flour can provide a solution to people with gluten intolerance, as it is gluten-free. Native banana flour may have limited functionality in certain applications. In this study, banana flour was modified by ultrasonic (US) and annealing (ANN) treatments at four incubation time spans, namely 12, 24, 36 and 72 h, separately or combined sequentially (US-ANN) to enhance the physicochemical and digestive properties. US led to exposed granular surfaces and damaged non-starch components. Both treatments, at extended incubation time, increased crystallinity, resulting in a narrower starch gelatinization temperature range. The swelling power was significantly lower for ANN and US-ANN compared to US alone, providing a delay of gelatinization temperature. However, none of the treatments affected the gelatinization enthalpy. Furthermore, US increased peak viscosity, breakdown, final viscosity and setback whereas the opposite results were obtained for ANN and US-ANN. Additionally, US prior to ANN significantly increased the resistant starch (RS) content for annealing times over 24 h, especially for the US-ANN treatment for 72 h, which provided the highest RS content (49.3%) compared to ANN treatment for 72 h (44.0%) and native flour (36.3%). US prior to ANN treatment offers an alternative method to improve the functional and digestive properties of banana flour, extending the range of applications. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Discursive Construction of Hong Kong’s Future Beyond 2047: A Press Media-Based Study

This study explores the public discourse about Hong Kong’s future beyond 2047 through the lens of local press media during the first half of the “unchanged 50 years” since the handover. The data contains a number of 187 newspaper articles centered on the issue of 2047, extracted from 16 local news outlets in Chinese. Using qualitative and quantitative methods of content analysis, the study observes the development of media discourse over a long span of time and points out people’s major concerns about Hong Kong’s long-term future. It distinguishes three major discourses in terms of identity construction and modes of anticipation, and explores the links between future-oriented suggestions and real-world actions. As part of an ongoing research on Hong Kong’s future narratives, this study contributes to the research on social mentality during the first half of the “one country and two systems” and explores how the future is imagined and built through discursive practices.

A nuclear WD40 repeat protein PRL1 regulates stability of MYB4 transcription factor in Arabidopsis

MYB4, a member of the R2R3-type subfamily of MYB transcription factor plays a crucial role in regulating the accumulation of UV-B absorbing phenylpropanoids in plants. UV-B exposure for a longer duration down-regulates the expression of MYB4 gene in Arabidopsis. MYB4 protein represses its own expression by binding to its own promoter. However, at present practically nothing is known about the post-translational regulation of MYB4 protein in vivo. Here, we provide evidence that in Arabidopsis MYB4 protein is phosphorylated in vivo and is targeted by the ubiquitin-26S proteasome-dependent pathway. Immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, and phosphoprotein staining experiments have revealed that both the accumulation pattern and phosphorylation of MYB4 increase in the light condition during the 24 hours time span under long-day conditions. Yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays have shown that MYB4 directly interacts with a nuclear WD40 repeat protein, PRL1 in vivo. Cell-free protein degradation assay in the absence and presence of proteasome inhibitor indicates that MYB4 is degraded in a ubiquitin proteasome-dependent manner. Furthermore, analyses of MYB4 protein accumulation levels in transgenic atmyb4–1 mutant line expressing 35 S:AtMYB4 (35 S:AtMYB4-atmyb4–1) and atprl1–1 mutant line indicate that PRL1 regulate stability of MYB4 in Arabidopsis. Overall, our results provide important information on the possible mechanism of post-translational modification and regulation of stability of MYB4 protein in Arabidopsis in vivo.

Demographic Variations and Time to Initiation of Adjunct Treatment following Surgical Resection of Anaplastic Astrocytoma in the United States—A National Cancer Database Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Anaplastic Astrocytoma (AA) is a rare primary brain tumor with a significant variation in the type and timing of adjunct treatment (AT) following the surgical resection. METHODS: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for patients diagnosed with AA from 2004 to 2016. Cox proportional hazards and modeling was used to determine factors influencing survival, including the impact of time to initiation (TTI) of adjuvant therapy. RESULTS: Overall, 5890 patients were identified from the database. The use of combined RT+CT temporally increased from 66.3% (2004-2007) to 79% (2014-2016), p < 0001. Patients more likely to receive no treatment following surgical resection included elderly (>60 years old), hispanic patients, those with either no or government insurance, those living >20 miles from the cancer facility, those treated at low volume centers (<2 cases/year). AT was received following surgical resection within 0-4 weeks, 4.1-8 weeks, and >8 weeks in 41%, 48%, and 3%, respectively. Compared to patients who received RT + CT, patients were likely to receive RT only as AT either at 4-8 weeks or >8 weeks after the surgical procedure. Patients who received AT within 0-4 weeks had the 3-year OS of 46% compared to 56.7% for patients who received treatment at 4.1-8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Across the cohort, nearly 15% of patients received no AT following surgery, with the proportion of patients receiving no AT generally decreasing over time. This decrease corresponds to increased utilization of combined modality AT during the same time span. The highest utilization of combined AT within this cohort was between 4.1-8 weeks following the surgery.

Research Front and Future Prospect: A Bibliometric Study of Metaphor Comprehension

Metaphor comprehension is an important component in the process of constructing metaphorical thinking. Therefore, the topic of “metaphor comprehension” should be a crucial part of metaphor studies. This study uses Bibliometrix to conduct a bibliometric study of research on metaphor comprehension from 2013 to 2023, focusing on the knowledge structure, the hot spots, and the research fronts. The co-citation analysis shows that the Contemporary Theory of Metaphor (CTM) in Cognitive Linguistics has provided the dominant knowledge foundation for the research of metaphor comprehension. A large number of hypotheses from CTM not only provide theoretical guidance for the current understanding of metaphor but also provide a reference for experimental paradigms. The coupling analysis shows that most of the influential studies in the time span have conducted empirical studies, demonstrating the explanatory power of empirical results and the interdisciplinary trend of metaphor in psychology and neuroscience. In the past decade, theoretical approaches to metaphor comprehension have been divided into linguistic and interdisciplinary categories, in which different experimental paradigms and conditions were used to reveal the comprehension mechanism. However, while providing insights for metaphor comprehension study through the existing research results, the bibliometric analysis reflects that researchers should fully consider the gap between metaphor in use and metaphor in experiments. This may be mediated through the progress of metaphor comprehension models in different contexts. This study suggests that future research on metaphor comprehension should enrich their theoretical models, properly use or combine research methods and designs, and look into different types of research objects.

Update of SB9 orbits using HERMES/Mercator radial velocities

Aims. By combining astrometric orbits (delivered in large numbers by the Gaίa mission) with spectroscopic orbits for systems with two observable spectra (SB2), it is possible to derive the masses of both stellar components. However, to get masses with a good accuracy requires accurate spectroscopic orbits, which is the primary aim of the present paper. A subsidiary aim is to discover SB2 systems hiding among known SB1 systems and even though this search may often prove unsuccessful, the acquired radial velocities may still be used to improve the existing spectroscopic orbits. Methods. New radial velocities for 58 binary systems from the Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binary Orbits (SB9), obtained using the high-resolution HERMES spectrograph installed on the 1.2 m Mercator telescope, were used to possibly identify hitherto undetected SB2 systems. For SB1 systems with inaccurate orbits, we used these new radial-velocity measurements to improve the orbital accuracy. Results. This study provides 51 orbits (41 SB1 and 10 SB2) that have been improved with respect to the solution listed in the SB9 catalogue, out of the 58 SB9 orbits studied, which belong to 56 stellar systems. Among them, there are five triple and four quadruple systems. Despite the high resolution of HERMES, the only system we detected as anew SB2 system is HIP 115142 A. The B component of the visual binary HIP 92726 has now been found to be a spectroscopic system as well, which makes HIP 92726 a newly discovered quadruple system (SB 1+SB 1). Moreover, the high resolution of HERMES has enabled us to better isolate the signature of the secondary component of HIP 12390, HIP 73182, and HIP 111170. Thus, we derived more accurate masses for them. Among the 30 SB also present in Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3), with periods shorter than the Gaia DR3 time span (~1000 d), only five had been flagged as binaries by DR3. Various DR3 selection criteria are responsible for this discrepancy.

The GAPS Programme at TNG

Context. Planets in binary systems are a fascinating and yet poorly understood phenomenon. Since there are only a few known large-separation systems in which both components host planets, characterizing them is a key target for planetary science. Aims. In this paper, we aim to carry out an exhaustive analysis of the interesting XO-2 system, where one component (XO-2N) appears to be a system with only one planet, while the other (XO-2S) has at least three planets. Methods. Over the last 9 yr, we have collected 39 spectra of XO-2N and 106 spectra of XO-2S with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern emisphere (HARPS-N) in the framework of the Global Architecture of Planetary Systems (GAPS) project, from which we derived precise radial velocity (RV) and activity indicator measurements. Additional spectroscopic data from the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) and from the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS), and the older HARPS-N data presented in previous papers, have also been used to increase the total time span. We also used photometric data from TESS to search for potential transits that have not been detected yet. For our analysis, we mainly used PyORBIT, an advanced Python tool for the Bayesian analysis of RVs, activity indicators, and light curves. Results. We found evidence for an additional long-period planet around XO-2S and characterized the activity cycle likely responsible for the long-term RV trend noticed for XO-2N. The new candidate is an example of a Jovian analog with m sin i ~ 3.7 MJ, a ~ 5.5 au, and e = 0.09. We also analyzed the stability and detection limits to get some hints about the possible presence of additional planets. Our results show that the planetary system of XO-2S is at least one order of magnitude more massive than that of XO-2N. The implications of these findings for the interpretation of the previously known abundance difference between components are also discussed.

The GRAVITY young stellar object survey

Context. Temporal variability in the photometric and spectroscopic properties of protoplanetary disks is common in young stellar objects. However, evidence pointing toward changes in their morphology over short timescales has only been found for a few sources, mainly due to a lack of high-cadence observations at high angular resolution. Understanding this type of variation could be important for our understanding of phenomena related to disk evolution. Aims. We study the morphological variability of the innermost circumstellar environment of HD 98922, focusing on its dust and gas content. Methods. Multi-epoch observations of HD 98922 at milliarcsecond resolution with VLTI/GRAVITY in the K-band at low (R = 20) and high (R = 4000) spectral resolution are combined with VLTI/PIONIER archival data covering a total time span of 11 yr. We interpret the interferometric visibilities and spectral energy distribution with geometrical models and through radiative transfer techniques using the code MCMax. We investigated high-spectral-resolution quantities (visibilities and differential phases) to obtain information on the properties of the HI Brackett-γ (Brγ)-line-emitting region. Results. Comparing observations taken with similar (u,v) plane coverage, we find that the squared visibilities do not vary significantly, whereas we find strong variability in the closure phases, suggesting temporal variations in the asymmetric brightness distribution associated to the disk. Our observations are best fitted by a model of a crescent-like asymmetric dust feature located at ~1 au and accounting for ~70 % of the near-infrared (NIR) emission. The feature has an almost constant magnitude and orbits the central star with a possible sub-Keplerian period of ~12 months, although a 9 month period is another, albeit less probable, solution. The radiative transfer models show that the emission originates from a small amount of carbon-rich (25%) silicates, or quantum-heated particles located in a low-density region. Among different possible scenarios, we favor hydrodynamical instabilities in the inner disk that can create a large vortex. The high spectral resolution differential phases in the Brγ line show that the hot-gas compact component is offset from the star and in some cases is located between the star and the crescent feature. The scale of the emission does not favor magnetospheric accretion as a driving mechanism. The scenario of an asymmetric disk wind or a massive accreting substellar or planetary companion is discussed. Conclusions. With this unique observational data set for HD 98922, we reveal morphological variability in the innermost 2 au of its disk region. This property is possibly common to many other protoplanetary disks, but is not commonly observed due to a lack of high-cadence observation. It is therefore important to pursue this approach with other sources for which an extended dataset with PIONIER, GRAVITY, and possibly MATISSE is available.

Unravelling the impact of climate change on honey bees: An ensemble modelling approach to predict shifts in habitat suitability in Queensland, Australia.

Honey bees play a vital role in providing essential ecosystem services and contributing to global agriculture. However, the potential effect of climate change on honey bee distribution is still not well understood. This study aims to identify the most influential bioclimatic and environmental variables, assess their impact on honey bee distribution, and predict future distribution. An ensemble modelling approach using the biomod2 package in R was employed to develop three models: a climate-only model, an environment-only model, and a combined climate and environment model. By utilising bioclimatic data (radiation of the wettest and driest quarters and temperature seasonality) from 1990 to 2009, combined with observed honey bee presence and pseudo absence data, this model predicted suitable locations for honey bee apiaries for two future time spans: 2020-2039 and 2060-2079. The climate-only model exhibited a true skill statistic (TSS) value of 0.85, underscoring the pivotal role of radiation and temperature seasonality in shaping honey bee distribution. The environment-only model, incorporating proximity to floral resources, foliage projective cover, and elevation, demonstrated strong predictive performance, with a TSS of 0.88, emphasising the significance of environmental variables in determining habitat suitability for honey bees. The combined model had a higher TSS of 0.96, indicating that the combination of climate and environmental variables enhances the model's performance. By the 2020-2039 period, approximately 88% of highly suitable habitats for honey bees are projected to transition from their current state to become moderate (14.84%) to marginally suitable (13.46%) areas. Predictions for the 2060-2079 period reveal a concerning trend: 100% of highly suitable land transitions into moderately (0.54%), marginally (17.56%), or not suitable areas (81.9%) for honey bees. These results emphasise the critical need for targeted conservation efforts and the implementation of policies aimed at safeguarding honey bees and the vital apiary industry.

Photodegradation of Phenol under Visible Light Irradiation Using Cu-N-codoped ZrTiO<sub>4</sub> Composite as a High-Performance Photocatalyst

Codoping of nitrogen and copper into zirconium titanate composite (Cu-N-codoped ZrTiO4) was carried out through a sol-gel process. This study aimed to investigate the effect of copper and nitrogen dopants on the photocatalytic activity of ZrTiO4 composite in degrading phenol. To prepare the composite, an aqueous suspension of zirconia (ZrO2) alongside a fixed amount of urea and various amount of copper sulfate was added dropwise into diluted titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) in ethanol. The composites were calcined at temperatures of 500, 700, and 900 °C. Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) mapping, and specular reflectance UV-visible spectrophotometry (SR UV-vis) were used for their characterization of composite. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by adding the composite into a 10 mg L−1 phenol solution for various irradiation time spans. The remaining concentration of phenol solution was determined by absorption at 269 nm. Cu-N-codoped ZrTiO4 composite containing 5% Cu calcined at 500 °C demonstrated the highest observed rate constant and a significant band gap decrease from 3.13 to 2.68 eV.

Four-Dimensional Aircraft Trajectory Prediction Based on Generative Deep Learning

Aircraft four-dimensional (4D) trajectory prediction (TP) is among the critical techniques of current existing automation systems in air traffic management (ATM), which is also the basis of future airspace operation models. This paper proposes a 4D TP method based on a conditional tabular generative adversarial network (CTGAN). The model is trained and tested using historical 4D trajectory data from the Hong Kong region. It is then compared with the most extensively researched conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) and LSTM methods in the field of TP. The results show that Jensen–Shannon (JS) divergence, maximum mean discrepancy (MMD), and mean Euclidean distance (MED) of the model evaluation metrics for the selected route are 0.0539, 0.0150, and 0.0085, respectively. This confirms that the model for predicting 4D trajectory can accurately learn complex airspace’s trajectory distribution characteristics. Compared with the CTGAN algorithms shown in previous studies, the enhanced CTGAN approach developed in our research can reduce around 10% running time and 20% MED. Compared to CGAN, it results in an 81.55% reduction in MED. Compared to LSTM, when predicting with a 10-minute time span, the average mean absolute error for parameters latitude (Lat), longitude (Lon), geometric height (GH), and ground speed (GS) decreases by 7.76, 84.48, 81.98, and 36.51%, respectively.

Dynamics of the spatiotemporal velocity of glaciers on the eastern slope of Mount Gongga, China, under climate change

The quantitative assessment of glacier flow velocity dynamics plays a pivotal role in understanding its response mechanisms concerning climate warming. This work provides a systematic quantitative assessment of the deceleration status of glaciers in this region by investigating the motion evolution of typical glaciers in Mount Gongga in recent years, thereby revealing the seasonal dynamics and inter-annual evolution over an extensive time span. We used the optical flow-small baseline subset (OF-SBAS) method to compute the time-series velocities of the Hailuogou Glacier and the Mozigou Glacier using 178 archived Sentinel-1 satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from 2014 to 2021. The findings revealed a prominent seasonal pattern in glacier motion, characterised by cyclic variations in velocity from cold to warm seasons. Moreover, we identified variations in velocities across distinct regions of the glacier surface, underscored by the lag in the peak time node of glacier flow with increasing elevation. This pattern may have been determined by a combination of internal and external factors, including mass accumulation and ablation-driven subglacial drainage, as well as the glacier geomorphological setting. Furthermore, during 2015–2021, the glaciers on the eastern slope of Mount Gongga exhibited an overarching trend of deceleration. Notably, the ablation area of the Hailuogou Glacier recorded the most substantial deceleration, exceeding 8% per year. This study underscores the efficacy of the OF-SBAS method in extracting long-term glacier velocities. This work also establishes a robust foundation for the analysis of spatiotemporal fluctuations in glacier movement within the context of climate warming.

Extraocular muscle electromyographic recordings for intraoperative monitoring of cranial nerves III, IV, and VI: a single-center experience with intraorbital electrodes.

The objective of this study was to describe the quantitative features of intraoperative electromyographic recordings obtained from cranial nerve III, IV, and VI neuromonitoring using 25-mm intraorbital electrodes, in the larger context of demonstrating the practicality of this technique during neurosurgical cases. A 25-mm-long shaft-insulated intraorbital needle electrode is routinely used at the authors' institution for extraocular muscle (EOM) electromyographic monitoring of the inferior rectus, superior oblique, and/or lateral rectus muscles when their function is at risk. Cases monitored between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2022, were reviewed for patient demographics, tumor location and pathology, EOMs monitored, pre- and postoperative examination, and complications from electrode placement. Compound muscle action potentials on triggered electromyography, as well as neurotonic discharges on free-run electromyography, were described quantitatively. There were 141 cases in 139 patients reviewed during the 24-month time span, with 278 EOMs monitored (inferior rectus/superior oblique/lateral rectus muscles 68/68/142). Triggered electromyography yielded biphasic or triphasic compound muscle action potentials from EOMs with a mean onset latency of 1.51 msec (range 0.94-3.22 msec), mean maximal peak-to-trough amplitude of 1073.93 μV (range 76.75-7796.29 μV), and high specificity for the channel in nearly all cases. Neurotonic discharges were recorded in 30 of the 278 EOMs (with all 3 muscles represented) and associated with a greater incidence of new or worsened ophthalmoparesis (OR 4.62, 95% CI 1.3-16.4). There were 2 cases of small periorbital ecchymosis attributed to needle placement; additionally, 1 case of needle-related intraorbital hematoma occurred after the review period. The 25-mm shaft-insulated intraorbital electrode facilitates robust and consistent electromyographic recordings of EOMs that are advantageous over existing techniques. Combined with the relative ease of needle placement and low rate of complications, the technique is practical for neuromonitoring during craniotomies.

THE ROLE OF HOSPITALITY TO IMPROVE THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE IN HOSPITAL : A SCOPING REVIEW

Background: The hospitality industry has a strong focus on providing excellent customer service and creating positive experiences for guests. These same principles can be applied to the healthcare industry to improve the patient experience in hospitals. When patients are in the hospital, they may experience vulnerability, anxiety, and uncertainty about their health and treatment. Thus, providing a welcoming and comfortable environment can create a more positive and supportive environment for patients which may help ease their stress and improve their overall experience and contribute to better health outcomes.Research purposes: The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of hospitality to improve patient experience in hospital. Research methods: For the method, we use the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. After that, the scoping review is reported using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guideline method. An article search was carried out in April 2023, in several electronic databases, namely Pubmed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest with an article publication time span of 2018-2023. The search strategy included the following terms: “Hospitality, patient experience, hospital”. Research result: Based on the results of searches conducted in Pubmed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, a total of 550 articles were obtained which then entered the elimination stage, resulting in 52 articles which were subsequently included in the results of this review, and after the screening 8 scientific articles were found that met the requirements. From the results of the analysis carried out on scientific articles that match the inclusion criteria, the results of critical role which improved patient safety are obtained. Conclusion: From the results of the analysis carried out, it was found that hospitality plays a critical role in improving patient safety. Creating a welcoming and comfortable environment for patients can help to reduce anxiety levels, improve communication, prevent HAIs, and improve patient satisfaction levels. Further studies are needed, especially the standardization of hospitality systems that are tailored to the needs of each health facility, especially hospitals and health centers in Indonesia.

Pneumococcal Perplexity: Improving Awareness of Updated Pneumococcal Vaccination Recommendations in Two Large Military Treatment Facilities.

Vaccinations are an essential aspect of preventive medicine. In October 2021, the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine-20 (PCV-20) and PCV-15 were authorized for use in adults by the U.S. FDA. In 2022, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) subsequently published updated pneumococcal vaccination recommendations that incorporate both PCV-20 and PCV-15. Pneumococcal vaccination is effective in reducing pneumococcal disease, particularly in high-risk patient groups such as those with chronic lung disease; however, the updated dosing schedule for pneumococcal vaccinations can be quite confusing, especially if patients have previously received "older" vaccinations, such as pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine-23 or PCV-13. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase providers' knowledge of current ACIP pneumococcal vaccination recommendations, including indications and dosing schedule, and to improve pneumococcal vaccination rates among eligible adults and children. Focused education sessions were presented to primary care and subspecialty residents, fellows, and staff at Brooke Army Medical Center and Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center regarding current ACIP pneumococcal vaccination recommendations. Sessions included information about PCV-15 and PCV-20 vaccines, indications for vaccination, and dosing schedules. Subjective knowledge of updated ACIP pneumococcal vaccination recommendations was assessed among primary care and subspecialty residents, fellows, and staff via an anonymous survey both pre- and post-intervention. Number of PCV-20 vaccinations given and estimated vaccination rates of patients aged 19 to 64 years with asthma were assessed pre- and post-intervention over a 6 month time span. Of surveyed providers, only 9% discussed vaccinations at every visit and 11% did not discuss vaccinations at all. There was a statistically significant increase in providers' knowledge of pneumococcal vaccination guidelines for children post-intervention (P = .01) but no statistically significant increase in knowledge for guidelines for adults, for patients that have received prior pneumococcal vaccines, or in overall confidence in recommending pneumococcal vaccines. There was a 17% increase in the number of PCV-20 vaccinations given post-intervention (198 pre-intervention, 232 post-intervention). The estimated PCV-20 vaccination rate for adults aged 19 to 64 years with asthma increased from 14.9% pre-intervention to 19.5% post-intervention (P = .33). There is a significant knowledge gap regarding ACIP pneumococcal vaccination recommendations among military providers and a low pneumococcal vaccination rate for adults aged 19 to 64 years with asthma at Joint Base-San Antonio MTFs. Focused education sessions were effective in increasing providers' knowledge of updated pneumococcal vaccination recommendations, confidence in recommending vaccines, total number of pneumococcal vaccinations given, and estimated pneumococcal vaccination rate for adults with asthma. The validity of conclusions drawn from our data were limited because of discordant numbers of survey respondents as well as potentially inaccurate estimates of pneumococcal vaccination rates pre- and post-intervention. Despite this, the results warrant continued education of pneumococcal vaccines, indications, and dosing schedules.

Video shot-boundary detection: issues, challenges and solutions

The integration of high data transmission rates and the recent digital multimedia technology, paves the way to access a huge amount of video over the internet, in seconds. Additionally, uploading videos to different websites is no more confined to expert software professionals resulting in duplication of video data which led to exorbitant growth of multimedia information in cyberspace in a short span of time. This necessitates the development of efficient data management techniques including storage, searching and annotation mechanism. Automatic shot boundary detection is considered to be the first and foremost step towards such management. It is a booming area of research gaining attention in the domain of image processing, computer vision and pattern recognition. In this review paper, we present a detailed description of the methods and algorithms of shot boundary detection, reported in the last two decades. This review shows that using multiple features performs well in comparison to using only a single feature in the shot boundary detection problem although it leads to higher complexity. The major sources of disturbance in the boundary detection are the sudden illumination variation and presence of high motion in the video. An adaptive threshold outperforms a single global threshold in the boundary detection problem and the threshold requirement can be avoided through learning based strategies at the cost of larger training data and higher computation time. Moreover the present review includes a critical analysis of relative merits and demerits of existing algorithms and finally opens promising research directions in the area.

Regional Assessment of Soil Moisture Active Passive Enhanced L3 Soil Moisture Product and Its Application in Agriculture

Soil moisture (SM) is a crucial environmental variable, and it plays an important role in energy and water cycles. SM data retrieval based on microwave satellite remote sensing has garnered significant attention due to its spatial continuity, wide observational coverage, and relatively low cost. Validating the accuracy of satellite remote sensing SM products is a critical step in enhancing data credibility, which plays a vital role in ensuring the effective application of satellite remote sensing data across various fields. Firstly, this study focused on Henan Province and evaluated the accuracy of the SMAP Enhanced L3 Radiometer Global and Polar Grid Daily 9 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture (SPL3SMP_E) product along with its application in agriculture. The evaluation was based on in situ SM data from 55 stations in Henan Province. The assessment metrics used in this study include mean difference (MD), root mean square error (RMSE), unbiased root mean square error (ubRMSE), and the Pearson correlation coefficient (R). The time span of this study is from 2017 to 2020. The evaluation results indicated that the SPL3SMP_E soil moisture product performs well, as reflected by an ubRMSE value of 0.045 (m3/m3), which was relatively close to the product’s design accuracy of 0.04 (m3/m3). Moreover, the accuracy of the product was unaffected by temporal factors, but the product exhibited strong spatial aggregation, which was closely related to land use types. Then, this study explored the response of the SPL3SMP_E product to irrigation signals. The precipitation and irrigation data from Henan Province were employed to investigate the response of the SPL3SMP_E soil moisture product to irrigation. Our findings revealed that the SPL3SMP_E soil moisture product was capable of capturing over 70% of irrigation events in the study area, indicating its high sensitivity to irrigation signals in this region. In this study, the SPL3SMP_E product was also employed for monitoring agricultural drought in Henan Province. The findings revealed that the collaborative use of the SPL3SMP_E soil moisture product and machine learning algorithms proves highly effective in monitoring significant drought events. Furthermore, the integration of multiple indices demonstrated a notable enhancement in the accuracy of drought monitoring. Such an evaluation holds significant implications for the effective application of satellite remote sensing SM data in agriculture and other domains.

Boosting hydrogen production via water and urea oxidation using a facile fabricated alkali-etched ZIF-67@Ni(OH)2 electrocatalyst

Designing an operative and stable metal electrocatalyst for hydrogen production via water and urea oxidation has been in the spotlight for the past few years. In this work, we have deposited Ni(OH)2 at various time spans of 1, 3 and 5 h over alkali-etched ZIF-67 via facile strategy. The optimum Ni(OH)2@etched ZIF-67 (5 h) (NEZ-3) heterostructure demonstrates excellent OER and UOR performance with a lower overpotential of 240 mV and 1.32 V, respectively at 10 mA cm−2. Moreover, the NEZ-3 electrocatalyst attains smaller Tafel values of 106 and 35 mV dec−1 with remarkable stability of 60 and 48 h for OER/UOR performance at 10 mA cm−2. Specifically, the two-cell electrolyzer requires a lower cell voltage of 1.73 V (OER) and 1.48 V (UOR) with an excellent durability of 20 h at 10 mA cm−2, respectively. Additionally, the water displacement method is used to examine the 4-electron transfer process (OER) of NEZ-3 electrocatalyst with a Faradaic efficiency of 87.53 %. Notably, the porous structure, introduction of oxygen defects (Ov), higher oxidation state of Ni3+, and abundant active sites in NEZ-3 electrocatalyst are the foremost reasons for the superior electrocatalytic water and urea oxidation reactions. Therefore, this research work delivers a simple methodology in emerging a highly active, stable, and cost-effective multifunctional electrocatalysts towards energy conversion applications.

Analisis Kinerja Keuangan Baznas Provinsi Bengkulu Dengan Metode Iszm

The application of accountability and transparency in published financial reports is very important for society so that people are able to assess the financial performance of zakat institutions in collecting, managing and distributing zakat funds. The aim of this research is to measure and analyze the level of efficiency and capacity of BAZNAS financial performance in Bengkulu Province using International Standard Zakat Management (ISZM) method. The research method used is a quantitative method with a quantitative descriptive approach. Data collection techniques are by taking financial report data on the BAZNAS Bengkulu Province website. The types of data from this research consist of primary data and secondary data. Secondary data in this research is a type of time series data using a time span of 1 year, namely 2022. Secondary data collection techniques are obtained through various sources such as reports, books, journal articles, websites related to the research object.

Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on First-Year Medical Student Nutrition.

Medical school students in high-stress environments have been shown to make poor personal health decisions ranging from less healthy selections of food to lower rates of exercise. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic adding a major social and health challenge, it is important to examine the effect this new stressor has on the health habits of medical school students. All first-year students at Albany Medical College completed a self-recorded three-day log of food intake and exercise modality and duration. Reported data included calories, carbohydrates, protein, lipids, sodium, calcium, and other micronutrients. The data was divided between pre-pandemic (2018-19) and mid-pandemic (2020-21) entries. T-tests and ANOVA tests were used to compare for significance. Students consumed significantly fewer calories during the pandemic compared to before. This reduction was primarily driven by the female cohort of students. Specifically, this reduction in calories appears to be driven by a decrease in carbohydrate consumption, rather than lipids or protein, which did not change. Additionally, there were significant decreases in sodium, calcium, and vitamin D intake. The mid-pandemic time span (2020-21) appears to be correlated with decreased caloric intake, as well as other important nutrients such as vitamin D and calcium. This study demonstrated a decrease in calories, carbohydrates, sodium, and alcohol consumption when comparing pre- and mid-pandemic dietary habits of first-year medical students. It also indicated less than the recommended amount of calcium and Vitamin D consumption. Such changes may indicate restrictive eating habits in times of stress.