Reputation-Based Blockchain for Spatial Crowdsourcing in Vehicular Networks

2022

The sharing of high-quality traffic information plays a crucial role in enhancing the driving experience and safety performance for vehicular networks, especially in the development of electric vehicles (EVs). The crowdsourcing-based real-time navigation of charging piles is characterized by low delay and high accuracy. However, due to the lack of an effective incentive mechanism and the resource-consuming bottleneck of sharing real-time road conditions, methods to recruit or motivate more EVs to provide high-quality information gathering has attracted considerable interest. In this paper, we first introduce a blockchain platform, where EVs act as the blockchain nodes, and a reputation-base…

Trait Variation between Two Wild Specimens of Pleurotus ostreatus and Their Progeny in the Context of Usefulness in Nematode Control

2022

Pleurotus ostreatus is one of the most widespread mushrooms in the world. It is a valuable and widely cultivated edible mushroom with nematicidal properties. The mycelium of this mushroom produces a toxin that paralyzes nematodes, after which the nematode becomes infected with the filament, resulting in its death. This feature can be put to practical use as a natural nematicidal agent. In this paper, we have described studies on two wild strains of P. ostreatus (PO1, PO2) and the monokaryotic progeny obtained from their fruiting bodies. Monokaryons were crossed with each other within the progeny of one strain (PO1xPO1; PO2xPO2) and of two different strains (PO2xPO1). The growth conditions, …

Octahedral Tilting in Homologous Perovskite Series CaMoO3-SrMoO3-BaMoO3 Probed by Temperature-Dependent EXAFS Spectroscopy

2022

This research was funded by the State Education Development Agency project No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/444 (agreement No. 1.1.1.2/16/I/001) realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia; the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, as the Center of Excellence received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.

A Pipeline for the Implementation of Immersive Experience in Cultural Heritage Sites in Sicily

2022

Modern digital technologies allow potentially to explore Cultural Heritage sites in immersive virtual environments. This is surely an advantage for the users that can better experiment and understand a specific site, also before a real visit. This specific approach has gained increasing attention during the extreme conditions of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In this work, we present the processes that lead to the implementation of an immersive app for different kinds of low and high cost devices, which have been attained in the context of the 3dLab-Sicilia project. 3dLab-Sicilia’s main objective is to sponsor the creation, development, and validation of a sustainable infrastructure that int…

Ostensori architettonici in Sicilia tra suggestioni iberiche e rinascimentali

2022

Through the analysis of six architectural monstrances housed in churches and museums in Sicily, the formal and compositional languages that, between Iberian and Renaissance suggestions, characterize these masterpieces of sacred art are analyzed. They are small silver architectures, produced between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, which are influenced by the Catalan Gothic influences and the Italian Renaissance, in a peculiar Sicilian synthesis.

The European Landscape Convention with respect to the cultural landscape – a Polish perspective (Europejska Konwencja Krajobrazowa wobec krajobrazu k…

2022

Celem niniejszego artykułu jest odniesienie się do tego, w jaki sposób Europejska Konwencja Krajobrazowa (ELC) definiuje krajobraz kulturowy oraz jakie tworzy narzędzia jego ochrony. Kluczowe jest również ustalenie, z punktu widzenia polskiego porządku prawnego, jak ustawodawca implementuje ochronę krajobrazu kulturowego do prawa krajowego. Ogólna teza artykułu brzmi: ELC tworzy zintegrowany model ochrony krajobrazu, w którym krajobraz kulturowy jest traktowany jako jego nieodłączny element. Tezie ogólnej towarzyszy teza szczegółowa, że ELC nie tworzy samodzielnie optymalnego poziomu ochrony krajobrazu kulturowego, ale raczej kształtuje kierunek, w jakim ta ochrona będzie zmierzać. ELC defi…

Partial Discharge Behaviour Evaluation on MOSFET Employed in Automotive Applications

2022

This paper is focused on the measurement of partial discharges in the Silicon Carbide MOSFET. The latter represents a recent developed power electronics device, which has improved characteristics compared to the traditional Silicon MOSFET. The new technology has been conceived in order to satisfy the new market needs. With the ever-increasing development of the electric mobility sector, the need for ever more performing electronic power devices grows. The main features provided by the Silicon Carbide device were found in literature and concern a great thermal conductivity, wide bandgap, high power and high working temperature. However, considering the high voltage at which these devices wor…

Mafic magma feeds degassing unrest at Vulcano Island, Italy

2022

AbstractThe benign fuming activity of dormant volcanoes is punctuated by phases of escalating degassing activity that, on some occasions, ultimately prelude to eruption. However, understanding the drivers of such unrest is complicated by complex interplay between magmatic and hydrothermal processes. Some of the most comprehensively characterised degassing unrest have recently been observed at La Fossa cone on Vulcano Island, but whether or not these episodes involve new, volatile-rich ascending magma remains debated. Here, we use volcanic gas measurements, in combination with melt inclusion information, to propose that heightened sulphur dioxide flux during the intense fall 2021 La Fossa un…

Toxicological Findings of Self-Poisoning Suicidal Deaths: A Systematic Review by Countries

2022

The use of illicit and non-illicit substances is widespread in suicides. The toxicological data may help in understanding the mechanism of death. This systematic review aimed to analyze autopsies related to suicides by consuming poison, focusing on the correlation between substance use and the country of origin to create an alarm bell to indicate that suicide maybe attempted and prevent it. The systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines, with the primary objective of identifying autopsies conducted in cases of suicide by consuming poison in specific geographic areas. Significant differences in substances were observed between low-income and Western countries that con…

Promoting Physical Activity Habits after Completing Secondary School: Does the Age Matter?

2022

Physical inactivity is one of the most important problems in our society, especially during adolescence. During this stage of schooling, students practice physical activity in physical education classes, but after they finish school, many of them stop practicing it. This research aims to determine which variables predict the intention to practice physical activity after finishing secondary school and to discover the effect that age during adolescence has on these predictive variables. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of secondary school students. The results show that physical exercise identity influences the three antecedents of this theory, while the attitude towards the behav…

Convergence Theorems for Varying Measures Under Convexity Conditions and Applications

2022

AbstractIn this paper, convergence theorems involving convex inequalities of Copson’s type (less restrictive than monotonicity assumptions) are given for varying measures, when imposing convexity conditions on the integrable functions or on the measures. Consequently, a continuous dependence result for a wide class of differential equations with many interesting applications, namely measure differential equations (including Stieltjes differential equations, generalized differential problems, impulsive differential equations with finitely or countably many impulses and also dynamic equations on time scales) is provided.

Peculiarities of the local structure in new medium- and high-entropy, low-symmetry tungstates

2022

G. Bakradze acknowledges financial support provided by the Latvian Council of Science for project no. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/444 (agreement no. 1.1.1.2/16/I/001) realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia. The Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, as a centre of excellence, has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement no. 739508, project CAMART2.

Needs and preferences of women with prior severe preeclampsia regarding app-based cardiovascular health promotion

2022

Abstract Background Women with prior severe preeclampsia are at an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases later in life compared to women who had a normotensive pregnancy. The objective of this study was to assess their needs and preferences regarding app-based cardiovascular health promotion. Methods Patients (n = 35) of the Follow-Up PreEClampsia Outpatient Clinic (FUPEC), Erasmus MC, the Netherlands, participated in an anonymous online survey. The main outcomes under study were women’s needs for health behavior promotion, and their preferences with respect to intervention delivery. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate needs, and thematic analysis was used to analyze preferenc…

Intergenerational Transmission of Dyslexia : How do Different Identification Methods of Parental Difficulties Influence the Conclusions Regarding Chi…

2022

By investigating children whose parents have dyslexia, family risk (FR) studies are expanding our understanding of the intergenerational transmission of dyslexia. These studies, however, vary in their identification of FR, and how the use of different identification methods influences research findings and conclusions is yet to be systematically investigated. This study aims to evaluate the association between two FR identification methods—parental self-reports and direct skill assessments—and their unique contributions in the prediction of children's reading. The study employed two datasets: a prospective FR sample (half of the parents in the sample had dyslexia and the remaining half did …

Therapeutic Potential of Extracellular Vesicles in Aging and Age-Related Diseases

2022

Aging is associated with an alteration of intercellular communication. These changes in the extracellular environment contribute to the aging phenotype and have been linked to different aging-related diseases. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are factors that mediate the transmission of signaling molecules between cells. In the aging field, these EVs have been shown to regulate important aging processes, such as oxidative stress or senescence, both in vivo and in vitro. EVs from healthy cells, particularly those coming from stem cells (SCs), have been described as potential effectors of the regenerative potential of SCs. Many studies with different animal models have shown promising results in …

Weight-teasing and eating disorders-a comparative study in adolescent and adult samples

2022

Disordered eating, unhealthy weight-control behaviours and body dissatisfaction are associated with diminished mental health. A key aspect that has been identified for the development of disordered eating behaviours and body dissatisfaction is to be teased. Additionally, the literature suggests that weight may affect the relationship between weight-teasing and disordered eating and body dissatisfaction, although this pattern is unclear. This study presents two cross-sectional studies with an adult and an adolescent sample. The adolescent sample comprised 15,224 participants, and the adult sample comprised 321 participants, all from Spain. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Aim…

Dealing with a small amount of data : developing Finnish sentiment analysis

2022

Sentiment analysis has been more and more prominently visible among all natural language processing tasks. Sentiment analysis entails information extraction of opinions, emotions, and sentiments. In this paper, we aim to develop and test language models for low-resource language Finnish. We use the term “low-resource” to describe a language lacking in available resources for language modeling, especially annotated data. We investigate four models: the state-of-the-art FinBERT [1], and competitive alternative BERT models Finnish ConvBERT [2], Finnish Electra [3], and Finnish RoBERTa [4]. Having a comparative framework of multiple BERT variations is connected to our use of additional methods …

Role of Alkyl Substituent and Solvent on the Structural, Thermal, and Magnetic Properties of Binary Radical Salts of 1,2,3,5-Dithia- or Diselenadiazo…

2022

The synthesis, structural, thermal, and magnetic properties of a series of simple binary organic salts based on the radical anion of 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) and 4-(N-alkylpyridinium-3-yl)-1,2,3,5-dithiadiazolyl (DTDA), 1R (R = Et, Pr, Bu), radical cations and their heavier selenium analogues (DSDA), 2R, are described. Single-crystal X-ray structural analyses reveal that short alkyl substituents on the pyridinium moiety of DTDA/DSDA cations lead to crystallization of isostructural acetonitrile (MeCN) solvates 1Et·MeCN, 1Pr·MeCN, 2Et·MeCN, and 2Pr·MeCN with trans-cofacial DTDA radical cation and eclipsed-cofacial TCNQ radical anion dimers. A slight increase in the substituent …

Characterization of Self-Growing Biomaterials Made of Fungal Mycelium and Various Lignocellulose-Containing Ingredients

2022

In this study, novel blends of mycelium biocomposites (MB) were developed. Various combinations of birch sawdust and hemp shives with birch bark (BB) and wheat bran (WB) additives were inoculated with basidiomycete Trametes versicolor to produce self-growing biomaterials. MB were characterized according to mycelial biomass increment in final samples, changes in chemical composition, elemental (C, H, N) analyses, granulometry of substrates, water-related and mechanical properties, as well as mold resistance and biodegradability. The mycelial biomass in manufactured MB increased by ~100% and ~50% in hemp and sawdust substrates, respectively. The lignocellulose ingredients during fungal growth…

How Does the Amount of a Physical Education Intervention Affect Gross Motor Coordination in Early Childhood?

2022

Little is known about the dose–response of physical education interventions on motor coordination in preschoolers. Our aim was to investigate whether the development of motor skills changed depending on different amounts of a physical education program (PEP) in children aged 3–5 years. One hundred forty-five children were recruited from kindergartens and randomly divided into a control group (CG, n = 28), which did not perform any PEP, and two intervention groups, which performed 4 h/week (I1, n = 78) and 10 h/week (I2, n = 39) of a PEP for 16 weeks. Each lesson was set in the form of a programmed game in order to produce fun, thus increasing enthusiasm for participation. Before and after t…

Is intra-articular injection of autologous micro-fragmented adipose tissue effective in hip osteoarthritis? A three year follow-up

2022

Abstract Background Recently, increased attention on regenerative medicine and biological injective treatments have been proposed to restore native cartilage. Micro-fragmented adipose tissue (MFAT) has been studied for its anti-inflammatory, paracrine, and immunomodulatory effects. The long-term effects of MFAT are still poorly understood: the aim of the present study is to demonstrate how hip articular injections with autologous MFAT can have an impact on clinical outcomes. Methods Seventy-one consecutive patients affected by early hip osteoarthritis underwent an ultrasound-guided hip injection of autologous MFAT between June 2017 and December 2018. Patients were divided into four groups a…

An Optimized Architecture for CGA Operations and Its Application to a Simulated Robotic Arm

2022

Conformal geometric algebra (CGA) is a new geometric computation tool that is attracting growing attention in many research fields, such as computer graphics, robotics, and computer vision. Regarding the robotic applications, new approaches based on CGA have been proposed to efficiently solve problems as the inverse kinematics and grasping of a robotic arm. The hardware acceleration of CGA operations is required to meet real-time performance requirements in embedded robotic platforms. In this paper, we present a novel embedded coprocessor for accelerating CGA operations in robotic tasks. Two robotic algorithms, namely, inverse kinematics and grasping of a human-arm-like kinematics chain, ar…

Observation of an a0 -like State with Mass of 1.817 GeV in the Study of Ds+→KS0K+π0 Decays

2022

Comparative Study of the Compressibility of M3V2O8 (M = Cd, Zn, Mg, Ni) Orthovanadates

2022

We report herein a theoretical study of the high-pressure compressibility of Cd3V2O8, Zn3V2O8, Mg3V2O8, and Ni3V2O8. For Cd3V2O8, we also present a study of its structural stability. Computer simulations were performed by means of first-principles methods using the CRYSTAL program. In Cd3V2O8, we found a previously unreported polymorph which is thermodynamically more stable than the already known polymorph. We also determined the compressibility of all compounds and evaluated the different contributions of polyhedral units to compressibility. We found that the studied vanadates have an anisotropic response to compression and that the change in volume is basically determined by the compressi…

Učinki naglega zmanjševanja telesne mase na moč oprijema pri reprezentančnih rokoborcih

2022

The effects of rapid weight loss (RWL) in combat sports athletes is an area that is not yet fully discovered. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the impact of weight loss on HGS (handgrip strength) in Greco-Roman wrestlers.This cross-over study included ten athletes examined for HGS during three time points for each hand. The first measurement – baseline (BL), was performed before we-ight reduction. The second measurement ‒ phase 1 (P1), was taken after high-intensity sports specific training (HISST) combined with RWL. In this phase, participants had to lose 5% of their body mass within three days, after which HISST was carried out (on day 3). The third measurement ‒ phase 2…

Personalized Treatment of Vulvar Cancer

2022

Vulvar cancer (VC) accounts for 5% of all gynecologic cancer and the most common histological type is squamous cell carcinoma (up to 90%)

Proton hot spots and exclusive vector meson production

2022

We explore consequences of the existence of gluonic hot spots inside the proton for coherent and incoherent exclusive vector meson production cross sections in deep inelastic scattering. By working in the dilute limit of the Color Glass Condensate framework to compute the cross sections for Gaussian hot spots of fluctuating color charges and employing a non-relativistic vector meson wave function, we are able to perform large parts of the calculation analytically. We find that the coherent cross section is sensitive to both the size of the target and the structure of the probe. The incoherent cross section is dominated by color fluctuations at small transverse momentum transfer ($t$), by pr…

Effect of microplastics on nasal and intestinal microbiota of the high-exposure population

2022

BackgroundMicroplastic has become a growing environmental problem. A balanced microbial environment is an important factor in human health. This study is the first observational cross-sectional study focusing on the effects of microplastics on the nasal and gut microbiota in a highly exposed population.MethodsWe recruited 20 subjects from a Plastic Factory (microplastics high-exposure area) and the other 20 from Huanhuaxi Park (microplastics low-exposure area) in Chengdu, China. We performed the microplastic analysis of soil, air, and intestinal secretions by laser infrared imaging, and microbiological analysis of nasal and intestinal secretions by 16S rDNA sequencing.ResultsThe result show…

Corporate social irresponsibility and stakeholders' support: evidence from a case study

2022

AbstractStakeholders’ decisions regarding whether to continue to support a firm after it has been perceived as culpable for socially irresponsible behaviour is “coin of the realm” in selecting which firms (or which parts of a firm) will be able to survive a corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) scandal. Our empirical setting is an embedded polar case of audience support, the Parmalat case, following a severe CSI scandal. The scandal represented a “trigger event” that ignited an active reevaluation of the firm on behalf of its stakeholders. We show that, while the firm’s cognitive legitimacy was not harmed by the CSI scandal, two dimensions of legitimacy played a key role in stakeholder ev…

To join or not to join? Insights from coopetitive RD&I projects

2022

Multipartner research, development and innovation (RD&I) projects are increasingly used to achieve complex innovation goals and keep pace with today's technological imperatives. The involvement of both competing and noncompeting partners increases the complexity of the relationships and poses a challenge to the outcomes of such projects. Therefore, the right choice of partners is particularly important in this context. Although previous research has mainly examined how focal firms deliberately select collaborative partners, this study demonstrates how non-focal firms evaluate invitations to participate in RD&I projects with multiple partners and direct competitors. Going beyond …

Gli oscuri turiboli del simbolo. Penna e d'Annunzio

2022

In the interpretation of his trained readers Sandro Penna has been the object of a great misunderstanding. For a long time his relationship with the greatest poetical works of his time has been hidden; it happened the same with the authors he could read during a long training. The most recent studies about Penna’s intertextuality focused on citations, limiting themselves to compiling a register, without considering the long duration of international cultural processes to which Penna himself refers. The name of Gabriele d’Annunzio is that of a certain actor among these processes, dealing above all with the poetics of symbol.

PCSK9 Confers Inflammatory Properties to Extracellular Vesicles Released by Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

2022

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are key participants in both early- and late-stage atherosclerosis and influence neighbouring cells possibly by means of bioactive molecules, some of which are packed into extracellular vesicles (EVs). Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is expressed and secreted by VSMCs. This study aimed to unravel the role of PCSK9 on VSMCs-derived EVs in terms of content and functionality. EVs were isolated from human VSMCs overexpressing human PCSK9 (VSMCPCSK9-EVs) and tested on endothelial cells, monocytes, macrophages and in a model of zebrafish embryos. Compared to EVs released from wild-type VSMCs, VSMCPCSK9-EVs caused a rise in the expression …

Tribological and Mechanical Properties of the Nanostructured Superlattice Coatings with Respect to Surface Texture

2022

This research is funded by the Latvian Council of Science, project “Carbon-rich self-healing multifunctional nanostructured smart coatings (NSC) for high-tech applications using high-power confined plasma technology for their deposition”, project No. 2019/1-0385.

La parifica dei rendiconti regionali: un caso ancora aperto

2022

The extension of the financial audit to the Regions reveals a physiological distortion between the function and legal regime of the institution that arises several relevant issues: on the one hand, in terms of the legal nature of this form of judgment; on the other hand, on a systematic level, with regard to its insertion in a constitutional structure at least formally characterized by a strong regionalism and a related apparatus of guarantees. In the case law of the Court of Auditors, in particular, it has not been clarified whether the financial audit is a real form of financial control or, in the light of the guidelines of the Constitutional Court, a form of jurisdiction. In the absence …

Soil Erosion and Deposition Rate Inside an Artificial Reservoir in Central Italy: Bathymetry versus RUSLE and Morphometry

2022

This study, using different direct and indirect methodologies, evaluated the sedimentation rate in an artificial reservoir in central Italy. This reservoir is regionally representative and was built in the 1960s for hydroelectric purposes; it has experienced a strong decrease in trap efficiency and a loss of over 70% of the stored water volume. Direct measurements of the lake bottom bathymetry, carried out in 2006 and 2015, and 3D reconstructions performed in a GIS environment, made it possible to calculate the volume of filling material and to verify an increasing trend in the sedimentation rate since 2006. The sample reservoir denudation rate was compared with that obtained using the Revi…

Synergistic Effects of Trichoderma harzianum, 1,3 Dichloropropene and Organic Matter in Controlling the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita on T…

2022

Environmental concerns raised by synthetic nematicides are encouraging integrated management strategies based on their combination with non-chemical control tools, such as biocontrol agents and/or organic amendments. In this study, the combination of the fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D) with a commercial formulation of the biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum (TH) and an organic fertilizer (OF) was investigated in two consecutive tomato crops for its effect on the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita and plant growth and yield. The application of 1,3-D was only performed on the first crop, while TH and OF were provided to both crops. Almost all treatments significantly reduced nem…