The modern industry allows synthesizing and manufacturing composite materials with a wide range of mechanical properties applicable in medicine, aviation, automotive industry, etc. Construction production generates a substantial part of budgets worldwide and utilizes vast amounts of materials. Nowadays, the practice has revealed that structural applications of innovative engineering technologies require new design concepts related to the development of materials with mechanical properties tailored for construction purposes. It is the opposite way to the current design practice where design solutions are associated with the application of existing materials, the physical characteristics of which, in general, are imperfectly suiting the application requirements.The efficient utilization of engineering materials is the result of achieving the solution of the above problem. The efficiency can be understood in a simplified and heuristic manner as the optimization of the performance and the proper combination of structural components, leading to the utilization of the minimum volume of materials; consumption of the least amount of natural resources should ensure the development of more durable and sustainable structures. The solution of the eco-optimization problem, based on the adequate characterization of the materials, enables implementing principles of environment-friendly engineering when the efficient utilization of advanced materials guarantees the structural safety required.The identification of fundamental relationships between the structure of advanced composites and the related physical properties was the focus of the completed Special Issue. The research team from the Democritus University of Thrace achieved outstanding results in the development and analysis of fibrous reinforcement, improving the mechanical performance of structural components ,2,3. TheThe articles ,5 expandThe articles included in the Special Issue explore the development of sustainable composites with valorized manufacturability for a breakthrough from conventional practices and corresponding to the Industrial Revolution 4.0 ideology. The publications revealed that the application of nano-particles improves the mechanical performance of composite materials ; advanceThe publication  investigThe application of advanced manufacturing technologies is the research focus of articles ,17. SupeThe articles ,19,20 inMaterials continues the successful publication series, aiming to combine the innovative achievements of experts in the fields of materials and structural engineering to raise the scientific and practical value of the gathered results of the interdisciplinary research.The published works demonstrate that the choice of construction materials has considerable room for improvement from a scientific viewpoint, following heuristic approaches. At the closure of the Special Issue, altogether, the manuscripts included in the Special Issue were cited 51 times. That highlights the essential impact of the reported outcomes on the research community and their valuable contributions to materials science. The onward Special Issue “Advanced Composites: From Materials Characterization to Structural Application (Second Volume)” of


There is a rich literature from The United States looking at the importance of religion and spirituality in the lives of older adults where it is positively linked with wellbeing. Despite the increased interest in wellbeing in the UK comparatively little interest has been show in the role of religion and spirituality in promoting wellbeing including quality of life, life satisfaction and loneliness. In this paper we explore these issues using three data sets: the European Social Survey (ESS), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the IDEAL cohort of people with dementia and their carers to examine (a) the variation in religious practice by older adults, those aged 50+, across Europe; (b) the epidemiology of religious practice among older adults within England and (c) using both ELSA and IDEAL consider the relationship between religion and wellbeing in later life.


Lymantria monarcha in central Europe [Most revues consider the work on l Europe , at the l Europe . Since tViruses: the first on 2011, edited by Dawn Gundersen-Rindal and Robert L. Harrison; the second in 2015, edited by John Burand and Madoka Nakai.Two previous Special Issues addressing insect viruses have been published in In 2011, the Issue covered all aspects of insect viruses. Among the contributions, a review paper discussed the future importance of massive sequencing for the discovery of new insect viruses .In 2015, the Special Issue was entitled “Insect viruses and their use for microbial pest control”. It presented 10 contributions, including two reviews on the use of viruses for the control of insect pests in Latin America  and ChinThe increasing questioning of the negative environmental impacts of agriculture promoted the promulgation of objectives of reducing chemical insecticide use. One of the suitable alternatives is biological control, and viruses have proven their efficacy. This is the second Special Issue concerning the use of insect viruses in pest control.In this Issue, 20 contributions are published. The majority of these contributions address the potential of the virus to fight insect pests, but some consider the importance of the viruses of beneficial insects (honey bees). The generalization of massive sequencing confirmed that multiple infections are more common than previously expected. Viruses remain in host populations for a long time without apparent effect on the hosts (covert infections).The field resistance of codling moth to specific CpGV genotypes highlighted the importance of genotypic diversity in the virus populations and the role of multiple infections, which are addressed in various contributions. Taking advantage of this diversity might be one of the keys to ensuring the long-term efficiency of virus control.I hope the reviews and research articles of this Special Issue will fruitfully contribute to developing the knowledge and use of insect viruses in pest control.


This paper considers the critical role of social infrastructure in building age-friendly communities. Drawing on two neighbourhood projects, the paper explores the benefits which different types of social connections bring for older people and the types of spaces in which these connections are produced. It provides support for the importance of ‘natural neighbourhood networks’ by demonstrating how everyday encounters help promote informal networks of support. Following Klinenberg’s (2018) analysis of the importance of social infrastructure, the paper argues that the decline of local high streets, closure of libraries, and cuts to the maintenance of green spaces, reduce opportunities for face-to-face social interactions. The paper presents findings from two studies illustrating the importance of social infrastructure in supporting new forms of community action amongst older people. The paper concludes that that the value of social interactions that occur in everyday mundane spaces needs greater emphasis in public policy.


Extracellular matrix (ECM) structures within skeletal muscle play an important, but under-appreciated, role in muscle development, function and adaptation. Each individual muscle is surrounded by epimysial connective tissue and within the muscle there are two distinct extracellular matrix (ECM) structures, the perimysium and endomysium. Together, these three ECM structures make up the intramuscular connective tissue (IMCT). There are large variations in the amount and composition of IMCT between functionally different muscles. Although IMCT acts as a scaffold for muscle fiber development and growth and acts as a carrier for blood vessels and nerves to the muscle cells, the variability in IMCT between different muscles points to a role in the variations in active and passive mechanical properties of muscles. Some traditional measures of the contribution of endomysial IMCT to passive muscle elasticity relied upon tensile measurements on single fiber preparations. These types of measurements may now be thought to be missing the important point that endomysial IMCT networks within a muscle fascicle coordinate forces and displacements between adjacent muscle cells by shear and that active contractile forces can be transmitted by this route . The amount and geometry of the perimysial ECM network separating muscle fascicles varies more between different muscle than does the amount of endomysium. While there is some evidence for myofascial force transmission between fascicles via the perimysium, the variations in this ECM network appears to be linked to the amount of shear displacements between fascicles that must necessarily occur when the whole muscle contracts and changes shape. Fast growth of muscle by fiber hypertrophy is not always associated with a high turnover of ECM components, but slower rates of growth and muscle wasting may be associated with IMCT remodeling. A hypothesis arising from this observation is that the level of cell signaling via shear between integrin and dystroglycan linkages on the surface of the muscle cells and the overlying endomysium may be the controlling factor for IMCT turnover, although this idea is yet to be tested. Intramuscular connective tissue plays a critical role in the development and growth of muscle tissue and its quantity and distribution vary greatly between muscles with different functional properties. Yet surprisingly, relatively little is known about the properties and adaptation of IMCT in comparison with the knowledge of muscle function and plasticity . There hThis article reviews the structure and roles of connective tissue structures within skeletal muscle tissues, with an emphasis on recent developments and remaining questions. This subject has a rich history; connective tissue structures surrounding individual muscle fibers muscle were first described by There are numerous comprehensive reviews of the structure of IMCT in the literature. The general structure of IMCT is summarized in It is a common assumption that muscle fibers typically run the entire length of a muscle fascicle, inserting onto tendons by myotendinous junctions at both ends. However, numerous studies on a wide variety of species have shown that many muscles have muscle fibers that do not span then entire fascicle, Muscles with non-spanning or intrafascicularly terminating muscle fibers are actually quite common . HijikatEach muscle fiber (cell) is bounded by its plasmalemma (sarcolemma) and, external to this, a 50 nm thick basement membrane layer comprized of non-fibrous type IV collagen and laminin in a proteoglycan matrix. Lying between the two basement membranes of two adjacent muscle fibers, the fibrous network layer of the endomysium forms a continuum between the two basement membranes. The perimysium is described as a well-ordered criss-cross lattice of two sets of wavy or crimped collagen fiber bundles in a proteoglycan matrix, with each of the two parallel sets of wavy fibers at angle symmetrically disposed about the muscle fiber axis . These cThe epimysium is a thick connective tissue layer that is composed of coarse collagen fibers in a proteoglycan matrix. The epimysium surrounds the entire muscle and defines its volume. The arrangement of collagen fibers in the epimysium varies between muscles of different shapes and functions. For instance, the collagen fibers in the relatively thin epimysium of the long strap-like M. sternomandibularis in the cow has two sets of collagen fibers running at ± 55 to the muscle long axis , whereasAlthough the various IMCT structures are often described as sheaths that separate individual fibers (endomysium) fascicles (perimysium) and whole muscles (epimysium), in reality these structures form continuous networks that connect and coordinate the muscle elements within them. The endomysium clearly forms a continuous network structure within a fascicle and perimysium clearly forms another continuous network within the whole muscle As the perimysium approaches the surface of the muscle it merges seamlessly with the epimysium . At the The main components of IMCT are the fibrous collagen types I and III in a matrix of proteoglycans, with the non-fibrous type IV present in the basement membrane of the muscle cells. Small amounts of fibrous type V collagen and several of the fiber-associated collagens are also present. The endomysium and perimysium have distinct proteoglycan and collagen compositions, as detailed by Intramuscular connective tissue has a wide range of functions. At the most mundane level, it organizes and carries the neurons and capillaries that service each muscle cell. Especially at the level of the perimysium, it provides the location of intramuscular deposits of fat. It patterns muscle development and innervation, as proliferation and growth of muscle cells is stimulated and guided by cell–matrix interactions. These roles have been discussed previously . This reTwo papers published in the mid 1980’s characterize two very different streams of thought about the contribution of IMCT to the mechanical functioning of muscle. The second stream of thought about the functioning of connective tissue within muscle was generated by the observation by A general recognition that force transmission can readily occur between adjacent muscle fibers has been followed by evidence that myofascial force transmission can occur between fascicles even between adjacent muscles, as summarized by in vivo, except to reinforce the point that perimysium, like endomysium, is easily deformed in tension at resting muscle lengths.Tensile tests on small sheets of perimysium isolated by careful dissection from muscle are possible and show the obvious non-linear stress-strain behavior expected of a compliant network that suffers reorientation at finite strains and a straightening of initially wavy or crimped collagen fiber bundles. An example if given in It is clear that the majority of muscles undergo shape changes as they contract ; fusiforIt has been postulated that variations in the size and shape of fascicles, and therefore in the spatial distribution of perimysium, was related to variations in the shear strains that need to be accommodated in differently shaped muscles as they contract , 2010. TModels of the shear properties of perimysium and endomysium at different sarcomere lengths  to direcin vivo, Various computational models  models) have been used to explore the possible role of IMCT in the active and passive mechanical properties of muscles. These models are very attractive in that they can represent the complex three-dimensional architecture of the tissue at various levels. A full anisotropic set of (non-linear) moduli  and the anisotropic poisons ratios for both muscle fiber elements and IMCT elements, together with a detailed representation of their shape and spatial distribution would be an ideal starting point for building such complex computational models. However, a full set of extensional, shear and poison’s ratio parameters for muscle fibers and either the endomysium of perimysium, or both, is not available. So, while a great number of parameters can be estimated from experimental studies, inevitably there needs to be some assumed range of values for many of the parameters, not least the shear properties of the IMCT components . Thus, While actual measurements of the shear properties of endomysium through experiments such as those proposed above in relation to in vivo. Supersonic shear imaging (SSI) studies have provided estimates of the macroscopic shear modulus of muscles in vivo, including shear strains. As well as noting a great inhomogeneity in longitudinal strains between muscle fibers, in vivo movements of this muscle.If the shear properties of the endomysium are designed to keep adjacent muscle fibers closely aligned and coordinated with efficient force transfer between them, whereas the shear properties of the perimysium are designed to facilitate large shear strains in a working muscle, then it follows that (a) computational models should not use the same estimates of shear properties for both endomysium and perimysium, and (b) the mechanisms for adaptive growth or degradation of endomysium and perimysium may be differently regulated, or may respond to different ranges of stimuli.Part of the adaptation of muscle to exercise, disuse and overload injury involves changes to the IMCT . There aMaintenance and regeneration of IMCT is a balance of synthesis by fibroblasts versus degradation. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are the principal proteolytic enzymes of IMCT together with the family of metalloendopeptidases described as a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAMs), which act as sheddases, cleaving off the extracellular portions of integrins at the muscle cell surface . In theiMyoblasts and myotubes can produce their own basement membrane collagens , normallWhile there has been assumption that high rates of muscle growth must be accompanied by a high rate of turnover (degradation and resynthesis) of IMCT , investiMuscle immobilization also results in changes in IMCT, and these responses may also shed light on its role. Mechanotransduction refers to the signally pathways by which cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli by changes in their expression. Mechanotransduction in muscle is a well-understood concept that has been reviewed extensively . It is gFrom the viewpoint of regulating and adapting both muscle fiber volume and properties and IMCT structures to functional demands on muscles, there are two aspects of current muscle mechanotransduction research worth noting. Firstly, while the exact nature of the intracellular signaling pathways and resulting changes in expression have been studied with great precision, the exact nature of the mechanical stimuli that stimulates these is generally less well defined. While The second point to note is that most studies of mechanotransduction in muscle are concerned with transfer of mechanical information from the ECM to the muscle cells. But connections between muscle cells and ECM also transmit forces into the ECM. Regulation of IMCT due to mechanical signaling from contractile forces is far less studied. This is an important aspect if we want to know what signals could control the deposition or remodeling of IMCT beyond passive stretching of the muscle. Mechanical signals for IMCT deposition or degradation can reasonably be expected to be either strains or stresses experienced by fibroblasts, and indeed collagen and proteoglycan synthesis is primarily the function of these cells. Our current understanding of muscle function envisages relatively small shear strains within a fascicle, i.e., efficient force transmission through an endomysium with a relatively high shear stiffness, whereas perimysial boundaries allow large shear strains between fascicles. Given these differences, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the amplitude or nature of the signals controlling the growth or degradation of these two different IMCT structures are likely to be different. The control of degradation by MMPs may also be via signaling to fibroblasts, although it is more likely that signaling within muscle cells also has a large contribution to MMP expression and activity, as discussed above. Any study of the effects of stimuli on the production of MMPs by muscle cells is complicated by the fact that MMPs function as intracellular signaling molecules as well as extracellular proteases . A perinAs discussed above, the tight linkage of mechanotransduction at the muscle cell-ECM interface focuses attention on endomysial-muscle cell interactions, but the perimysium is only sporadically connected to the endomysium of muscle cells at PJPs. While the mechanotransduction pathway afforded by PJP structures  may be pass external mechanical information into the muscle cells, it is more difficult to postulate that the muscle cells also regulate turnover of the perimysium, unless perimysial fibroblasts are differentiated from endomysial fibroblasts and respond differently to signals coming from the muscle cells so as to synthesize and degrade this separate and distinct IMCT structure separately.A final consideration on the control of IMCT turnover and deposition centers on the scaling of stresses at muscle fiber surface with respect to muscle fiber growth. A normal assumption is that the force produced by a fiber will increase in proportion to its cross-sectional area, i.e., radius squared, on the basis that the number of myofibrils per muscle cell should scale with CSA. As the muscle fiber contracts, the generated surface shear stress would be proportional to the force divided by the surface area of the fiber (which is a linear function of radius). This would imply that, as a fiber grows in radius through hypertrophy, for a given force output per myofibril, the shear stress at the surface of the fiber would be increasing. Above a limiting value, increased signaling to the muscle cell could then trigger remodeling by release of MMPs/ADAMs, and paracrine signaling from muscle cells to fibroblasts could affect collagen synthesis. At least in cardiac muscle, the sheddase activity of ADAMS is thought to reduce integrin-mediated signaling with the ECM during hypertrophy . An incrin vivo sarcomere lengths, so freely allowing the length changes needed in actively contracting and passively stretching muscle fibers. But, the shear linkages through the thickness of the endomysium keeps adjacent fibers in register and laterally transmits force. While shear deformations in IMCT can be interpreted in terms of its contribution to the effective tensile stiffness of muscle in the muscle fiber direction, the field is moving toward a clear understanding that the shear properties of IMCT networks are different from tensile properties, and most probably the growth and turnover of IMCT structures are sensitive to shear parameters. While measures of tensile properties of endomysium as a passive elastic element in single fiber experiments has provided many insights into muscle properties, it is arguable that what the field needs most is detailed measurements of the translaminar shear properties of the endomysial and perimysial networks.Our understanding of the role of IMCT in normal muscle functioning and its role in muscle adaptation and response to injury has undergone considerable revision and is continuing to evolve. It is arguably a legacy of the Hill three-element model that a great deal of thinking on the mechanical roles of IMCT and experimental approaches designed to measure these have centered in the past on tensile properties, in relation to the “passive elastic element.” However, we must remember that the Hill model is just a representation of the macroscopic mechanical behavior of muscle, rather than a mechanistic representation with insight into molecular or structural mechanisms. Although PP is the sole author of this work therefore solely designed, wrote and submitted this manuscript.The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Approximately 30% of men and women in the United States have experienced age discrimination . Experiencing age discrimination may lead to increased risk of depressive symptoms among older adults. Although positive social environments are known to buffer depressive symptoms, it is unknown to what extent a positive social environment may buffer the association between age discrimination and depressive symptoms for older adults in the US. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between perceived age discrimination and depressive symptoms among older adults, and to explore whether this association varies by two aspects of the social environment: social support and neighborhood environment. We explore this topic with data on 5,439 adults aged 50 and older in a sample drawn from the Psychosocial Module of the Health and Retirement Study . Our results show a clear association between age discrimination and increased risk of depressive symptoms, net of a range of covariates. Older adults who receive more positive social support and rate their neighborhood environment more positively also report lower depressive symptoms. Finally, we find statistically significant interactions between age discrimination and both measures of the social environment, which suggest that social support and a positive neighborhood environment may buffer the negative impact of age discrimination on depressive symptoms. We discuss these findings in light of the prevalence of age discrimination in the US and cross-nationally, and consider potential mechanisms for improving the social environment of older adults, particularly in the post-COVID era.


High-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane is often used as an anti-seepage material in domestic and industrial solid waste landfills. To study the interfacial shear strength between the HDPE anti-seepage geomembrane and various solid wastes, we performed direct shear tests on the contact interface between nine types of industrial solid waste or soil  and a geomembrane with a smooth or rough surface in Guizhou Province, China. Friction strength parameters like the interfacial friction angle and the apparent cohesion between the HDPE geomembrane and various solid wastes were measured to analyze the shear strength of the interface between a geomembrane with either a smooth or a rough surface and various solid wastes. The interfacial shear stress between the HDPE geomembrane and the industrial solid waste increased with shear displacement and the slope of the stress-displacement curve decreased gradually. When shear displacement increased to a certain range, the shear stress at the interface remained unchanged. The interfacial shear strength between the geomembrane with a rough surface and the solid waste was higher than for the geomembrane with a smooth surface. Consequentially, the interfacial friction angle for the geomembrane with a rough surface was larger. The geomembrane with a rough surface had a better shear resistance and the shear characteristics fully developed when it was in full contact with the solid waste. A high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane is a waterproof barrier material with a high strength made of a polyethylene resin with a specific formula and further processing . It is wPresently, the experimental researches on the interfacial strength between the HDPE geomembrane and various types of solid waste mainly focus on direct shear, drawing and triaxial or torsional shear. Ling et al.  measuredIn this study, we used a modified direct shear apparatus to carry out direct shear tests on smooth and rough HDPE geomembranes and nine types of industrial solid waste or soil to simulate their interaction in an actual engineering structure and measure the friction strength parameters like the interfacial friction angle and the apparent cohesion of the contact interface between both types of geomembrane and the solid waste. We selected enough types (nine kinds) of industrial solid wastes or soil samples to verify that the conclusions obtained are applicable to the vast majority of industrial solid wastes. At the same time, we used the modified fracture shear seepage coupling system to carry out the test, which could keep the shear area of the interface between geomembrane and solid wastes unchanged during the test and the data of the stress and strain could be recorded per second accurately. The shear characteristics of the contact interface between both types of HDPE geomembrane and various industrial solid waste or soil samples were evaluated and analyzed to provide a theoretical reference for the construction of anti-seepage systems in solid waste disposal sites.(1)The smooth (or rough) geomembrane was laid on a rigid horizontal base in the lower part of the shear box. The front end was clamped in front of the shear area and fixed in place with 4 bolts. The surface of the geomembrane remained flat without any folding and there was no relative sliding between the specimen and the base. Then, the shear box was installed, and the solid waste was used as filler. The solid waste was filled into the shear box and the contact surface between the solid waste and the geomembrane and the upper surface of the solid waste were kept flat.(2)The pressure plate was installed, and the solid waste was applied a normal pressure of 50 kPa.(3)The horizontal load was applied to obtain a relative displacement between the upper and lower shear boxes with a speed of 1 mm/min. The instrument automatically recorded the shear force and the corresponding relative displacement at an interval of 1 s until the horizontal load did not increase anymore, which meant that the geomembrane was sheared out. If the horizontal load kept increasing slowly, the test was carried out until 16.5% of the length of the shear plane was reached.(4)The geomembrane and the solid waste were removed from the geomembrane surface. It was inspected whether the geomembrane was elongated, folded or damaged.(5)Re-assembled the geomembrane and repeated steps (1)–(4) and measured the friction characteristics of the contact interface for three other normal pressure values .According to the coulombic shear criterion, four geomembrane specimens were used to measure the shear stress when the contact interface between the geomembrane and the soil was damaged under four levels of vertical load. Then, the friction angle and the apparent cohesion of the contact interface between the geomembrane and the soil were determined. Based on the relevant specifications , specifi2).We calculated the shear displacement and the shear stress of the contact surface between the geomembrane and the solid waste according to Equations (1) and (2):The evolution of the shear stress with the shear displacement was plotted systematically. The peak value of the shear stress on the curve was defined as the maximum shear stress. As can be seen from 2 was less than 0.95), then we would carry out the test again until the required result was obtained. The angle between the straight line and the abscissa corresponds to the interfacial friction angle between the geomembrane and the solid waste. The intercept of the straight line on the vertical axis determines the apparent cohesion of the interface between the geomembrane and the solid waste. The maximum shear stress of the contact interface was obtained from the evolution of the shear stress with the shear displacement and the relationship between the maximum shear stress and the corresponding normal stress was determined. First, four stress points were defined with the normal stress as the abscissa and the corresponding shear stress as the ordinate. Then, the best fit for each point was determined by linear regression. If the error of the fitted straight line was large  and (4) show that the shear strength of the contact interface between geomembrane and solid waste is determined by the friction angle and apparent cohesion. To better analyze and compare the friction strength of the contact interface between the smooth and rough geomembrane and different solid wastes under different normal stresses, the friction ratio between the smooth and the rough geomembrane is introduced. It is defined as the ratio of the shear strength  of the contact interface between the smooth geomembrane and a given solid waste with that for the rough geomembrane for the same normal stress:The friction of the contact interface between various solid wastes or soil samples and the smooth and rough geomembrane was calculated from Equation (5), as shown in (1)When the shear displacement increases, the interfacial shear stress between the HDPE geomembrane and the industrial solid waste did not increase linearly, but parabola. With the increase of shear displacement, the shear stress first increased in a straight line; then the rate of increase gradually decreased. When the shear displacement reached a certain value, the interfacial shear stress remained stable. This means the change of the shear stress between the geomembrane and the solid waste must be carefully considered when designing an anti-seepage structure at a solid waste disposal site.(2)The interfacial shear strength between the geomembrane with a rough surface and the solid waste was close to that for the smooth geomembrane for a small normal stress. The interfacial shear strength between the rough geomembrane and the solid waste was significantly higher than for the smooth geomembrane for larger normal stresses. This is because when the normal stress was large, the solid waste particles was in closer contact with the surface of the geomembrane; the lateral friction resistance between the bumps on the surface of the rough geomembrane and the solid waste particles was more fully developed.(3)The shear strength of the interface between geomembrane and solid waste soil was determined by the friction angle and apparent cohesion. With the increase of the normal stress, the shear strength of the interface was mainly determined by the interface friction angle. The interface friction angle of rough geomembrane was higher than that of smooth geomembrane, therefore, the geomembrane with a rough surface had a better shear resistance and a better tensile crack resistance.In this work, a series of direct shear tests for the friction failure were carried out on the interface between seven types of main industrial solid waste, two types of soil in the Guizhou Province of China and an HDPE geomembrane. The friction strength of the interface was measured between a smooth and a rough HDPE geomembrane and various solid wastes and The friction strength of the interface was measured between a smooth and a rough HDPE geomembrane and the shear strength characteristics of the interface were analyzed:


Family caregivers of persons living with dementia (PLWD) provide disproportionately high levels of care over a long and variable disease course, yet an understanding of the trajectory of care hours provided over time and the contributions of individual family members to overall care is lacking. This study used longitudinal data from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study in order to compare the hours of care that spouses, children, and other family caregivers provide to those with and without dementia. During the last 10 years of life, family caregivers of PLWD provided nearly three times as many total care hours as compared to others . While care hours provided to PLWD increased steadily in each of the last 10 years of life , care hours provided to others remained low and then nearly tripled in the last year of life to 22 hours/week on average. Adult children of PLWD provided 50% of total care hours, while adult children of others provided 41% of care hours. This study provides important insight into the high levels of year-over-year caregiving provided to PLWD by their family caregivers in general and by adult children in particular. Policies to support these caregivers must shift from short-term, episodic support to sustained assistance in acknowledgment of the key role family caregivers play in the long-term services and supports of PLWD.


Information theory provides a spectrum of nonlinear methods capable of grasping an internal structure of a signal together with an insight into its complex nature. In this work, we discuss the usefulness of the selected entropy techniques for a description of the information carried by the surface electromyography signals during colorectal cancer treatment. The electrical activity of the external anal sphincter can serve as a potential source of knowledge of the actual state of the patient who underwent a common surgery for rectal cancer in the form of anterior or lower anterior resection. The calculation of Sample entropy parameters has been extended to multiple time scales in terms of the Multiscale Sample Entropy. The specific values of the entropy measures and their dependence on the time scales were analyzed with regard to the time elapsed since the operation, the type of surgical treatment and also the different depths of the rectum canal. The Mann–Whitney U test and Anova Friedman statistics indicate the statistically significant differences among all of stages of treatment and for all consecutive depths of rectum area for the estimated Sample Entropy. The further analysis at the multiple time scales signify the substantial differences among compared stages of treatment in the group of patients who underwent the lower anterior resection. The comprehensive knowledge about the information hidden in the complex surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals of the external anal sphincter (EAS) could significantly contribute to the proper assessment of the activity of this specific muscle group in the context of patients after multimodal rectal cancer therapy. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequent cancers worldwide and nowadays represents a significant part of the major public health problems . IncreasIt is also documented that the surgery, especially the level of anastomosis in conjunction with neoadjuvant radiotherapy, could increase the risk of postoperative complications associated with fecal incontinence . DespiteThe distribution of innervation zones (IZ) shows a large discrepancy in the studied groups and relatively high level of individual patient asymmetry ,10. ThusPrevious studies characterize the coaxial needle technique as an effective tool for investigating the neural control of EAS in the patient with defecation disorders . HoweverTo get a more profound insight into information hidden in sEMG, the use of proper analytical methods which can cope with the complex character of the examined phenomena is required . The infThe concept of entropy for a characterization of the measured data was first proposed in 1948 by Shannon in the form of the logarithmic dependence on a probability density function . Further in 2007 .A key limitation of these techniques is that they do not take into account multiple time scales. Biosignals often exhibit different behaviors depending on an actual scale. Nonlinearity, long memory or sensitivity to small disturbances are among the phenomena for which the description limited to a single time scale may not be sufficient. Although there exists a variety of entropy measures, the most widely used method in the context of a physiological signal’s dynamics is Multiscale Entropy algorithm proposed by Costa et al. ,29,30,31The Sample Entropy (y (ApEn) . There ails, see ,38.N data points requires a prior determination of the two parameters: (i) the embedding dimension m which characterizes the length of vectors to compare; and (ii) the tolerance threshold r referred to as a similarity criterion or the distance threshold for two template vectors. The latter is usually chosen from the range between The calculation of plitudes . In the m consecutive values of series, starting with the ith pointThe procedure starts with the definition of a set of vectors Next, the Euclidean distance between the r i.e., In the next step, the probability r of each otherThis value is averaged over all possible pattern vectors m points remain similar for the Finally, the For the above calculations, The estimation of Multiscale Entropy (MSE) consists of two main steps. The first part implements the coarse-graining procedure of resampling the series to explore different time scales of a signal . The mulThe second stage concerns the calculation of the sample entropy which was just presented in the previous The examined time series were recorded at three stages of treatment, before the surgical procedure  and 13 male, age range 48–85 (average 69.6 ± 10.04 years), diagnosed with a rectal cancer and qualified for surgery. All underwent open, transabdominal resection. Based on the distance of colorectal stapled anastomosis, the study group of patients was divided according to the decision of the operating surgeon. For surgeons to make decision on the type of the procedure (AR vs. LAR in this case), a localization of the tumor is crucial. It is common to decide that tumors localized in the upper third of the rectum require AR, those in middle portion LAR and those lower than that in some cases need LAR, ultra low LAR or abdomino-perineal resection. The patients with anastomosis at or below 6 cm from the dentate line were included in the Low Anterior Resection (LAR) group. Those with higher anastomosis were included to the Anterior Resection (AR) group. Indirectly, a level of anastomosis implies also the extent of mesorectal excision with all patients in LAR group undergoing Total Mesorectal Excision while in the case of AR group mesorectum was excised minimum 5 cm below the lower margin of tumor. For the detailed information on the surgical landmarks of rectum, see . The groThe standard protocol for the proper evaluation of motor units activity of the EAS muscle group recommends a minimum sampling frequency of about 2 kHz ,43 and oThe results of The significantly greater values of The in-depth description of the examined data is given by Quite a different result is found for the MVC where the AR group is characterized by the reduced values of entropy in comparison to the LAR for In addition, Considering the different stages of treatment, the middle case, A general comparison of the mean MSE curves characterizing the distinct states of EAS tension  indicatep-values, calculated at the selected significance level (The normality test of the entropy functions calculated via Shapiro–Wilk formula does not allow us to confirm the hypothesis about the normal distribution for the majority of analyzed cases. Thus, to characterize the differences between compared stages the non-parametric statistical tests were used. The comparison between AR and LAR group are presented in Next, the statistical differences within the individual groups were also investigated. The results of Anova Friedman statistics, a widely known non-parametric analog of the one-factor analysis of variance for the repeated measurements, indicates a statistically significant difference (anal see .This work presents an application of the selected entropy-based techniques to study the variability of information within sEMG signals at the different stages of the rectal cancer treatment. To distinguish the groups of patients due to the type of surgery as well as to compare of signals recorded at the various postoperative periods, both single and multiscale sample entropy algorithms were implemented. The statistically significant differences identified among all of the compared stages of treatment (Definitely the most valuable information is provided by the analysis of reatment ,45. In aIt is shown that the information carried out by the sEMG signals measured one year after the surgery rst year ,47. Probweighted innervation zones. Some of the innervation zones may have a greater importance than the others because of the different sizes of motor units [The main limitations of this study are due to the problem of inter-subject variability. The large diversity in distribution of EAS innervation zones, mainly caused by the high level of the individual asymmetries, significantly affects the differences between the compared groups. This phenomenon is further strengthened by the diversity of signals within a single subject. The values of the entropy for the time series detected at one of three separated rings, which consist of 16 channels each, indicate relatively high variability over these channels. That discrepancy consists of many factors including the concept of or units . We are


Hybrid nanotube composite systems with two different types of fillers attract considerable attention in several applications. The incorporation of secondary fillers exhibits conflicting behaviors of the electrical conductivity, which either increases or decreases according to the dimension of secondary fillers. This paper addresses quantitative models to predict the electrical performance in the configuration of two dimensional systems with one-dimensional secondary fillers. To characterize these properties, Monte Carlo simulations are conducted for percolating networks with a realistic model with the consideration of the resistance of conducting NWs, which conventional computational approaches mostly lack from the common assumption of zero-resistance or perfect conducting NWs. The simulation results with nonperfect conductor NWs are compared with the previous results of perfect conductors. The variation of the electrical conductivity reduces with the consideration of the resistance as compared to the cases with perfect conducting fillers, where the overall electrical conductivity solely originates from the contact resistance caused by tunneling effects between NWs. In addition, it is observed that the resistance associated with the case of invariant conductivity with respect to the dimension of the secondary fillers increases, resulting in the need for secondary fillers with the increased scale to achieve the same electrical performance. The results offer useful design guidelines for the use of a two-dimensional percolation network for flexible conducting electrodes. Conducting polymer composites have become essential components for various modern electronic applications including wearable sensors, flexible displays, batteries, and solar cells, etc. ,2,3,4. IFor additional improvement of the performance, the incorporation of particulate fillers can be considered to form the excluded volume that effectively leads to a segregated CNT network ,16,17,18articles ,20,21,22This work addresses the computational characterization of the effect of the dimensional properties of secondary particulate fillers on the electrical conductivity of CNT polymer composites. In the previous research, to clarify the contribution of the size effect of secondary particulate fillers on the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite network, the perfect conductor is assumed for the electrical property of the CNT filler, i.e., the resistivity of the CNT is set to zero to conduct Monte Carlo (MC) simulation for the prediction of percolating behaviors of the CNT network in CNT/silica composites . Thus, tThe conflicting electrical behaviors caused by the addition of secondary particulate fillers can be briefly described with Swiss cheese model. A random configuration of secondary particulate fillers on a polymer matrix can be modeled in a shape of Swiss cheese with many pores. A pore represents a single secondary filler which excludes conducting fibers, and the volume of “cheese” is the space that conducting fibers can occupy. A network of conducting fillers presents the collection of all conducting paths in the polymer matrix with particulate fillers. The CNT network is separated from the conducting fiber composite to evaluate the effective conductance of conducting paths. The local conductance of a point within the volume of Swiss cheese model depends on the density of CNT fibers placed around the corresponding region. To assess the degree and formation of an electrical network and to calculate the total conductance, an available configuration of the effective conducting network is obtained from the joint consideration of the conducting path and geometry of the particulate fillers. Thus, the total conductance can be evaluated by considering the continuum percolation property of the effective network. The transition of the electrical conductivity is observed in accordance with the excluded volume caused by secondary particles, i.e., the excluded volume improves or prevents the conductivity of CNT composites depending on the particle size. The network morphology of CNT composites depends on the size of the particulate fillers, resulting in the variation of the electrical conductivity. From this model, a numerical characterization of conflicting conducting behaviors is carried out based on a unified framework. Since most of available NW composite networks are created with conducting but nonzero resistance fillers, understanding of the impact on the electrical properties of nonzero resistance fillers is necessary. This work develops quantitative models of the electrical conductivity of two-dimensional NW composite networks with one-dimensional nonperfect conducting fillers via MC based computation. Based on computational models, the change of the network sheet resistance involved with the consideration of the NW resistivity is investigated with respect to various design factors for performance improvement. The results are compared with the perfect conducting NW percolating network. According to the results, the network conductance exhibits a relatively small change with the change of the filler size variation, resulting in the change of linear slopes, which suggests the prediction of the network electrical conductivity with an enhanced accuracy. The corresponding performance is also demonstrated in a computational way.The MC simulation is conducted to identify percolating behaviors of the CNT network in CNT/silica composites under various size and concentration conditions of composite components. In order to predict the sheet conductance  derived for the network with a 1V voltage source applied at both ends of the domain by considering an equivalent circuit network with two types of the resistance arising from inherent NW resistance and contact resistance between two NWs. KCL is applied at all contact points in the cluster to formulate a system of linear equations with respect to the voltage drop at every contact point in the conducting path. The solution of the system of linear equations, which can be obtained using linear algebra software packages. The total current flowing across the square domain is calculated from the solution. From the assumption of the 1V voltage source, the obtained total current corresponds to the overall conductance  2×10−2Ω . The conchnology . The conThe size effect of secondary particulate fillers on the electrical resistivity of the nanocomposites can be observed with random instances of the CNT/silica composites generated from the simulation presented in On the other hand, nano-scale secondary fillers prevent NWs from stretching toward the right side of the domain, and densely dispersed nano-sized particulate fillers cause the resulting system an abrupt increase with severe NW kinks. As shown in In order to assess a quantitative impact of the filler size, the electrical conductivity is monitored with varying secondary particulate filler contents with the CNT content fixed to 4%, which corresponds to the above electrical percolation threshold of the nanocomposite system. tal data ,27,28,29tal data . Thus, tThis section provides the discussion about qualitative interpretations and underlying intuitions of quantitative results obtained from the MC simulation. A unified formalism is addressed for the analysis of the normalized conductivity change observed concerning the size of secondary particulate fillers. It can be established via the combination of discrete percolation theory and Swiss cheese model. Hybrid NW systems with particular secondary fillers can be viewed as a novel extension of Swiss cheese model. Swiss cheese model is indeed a porous medium percolation model where insulating particles occupy pores, while continuum such as fluid is allowed to flow for percolation. However, this nanocomposite system is nontrivial in that NWs which act as conducting paths which electrical current can flow through are overlaid in Swiss cheese model originally intended for the continuum percolation. In ordinary Swiss cheese model, the conductivity of a conducting path is characterized by the width of a neck, which is defined as a narrow path between surfaces of two neighboring spherical fillers. The conducting property of this system differs from ordinary Swiss cheese model, where the total conductance depends on the narrowest neck width since only a neck having conducting NWs can act as a valid conducting path. The density of NW clusters passing across the neck determines the electrical conductance of the associated neck. Thus, only a neck with nonzero conductance is a valid conducting path of the percolating network. For example, if a small number of NWs exist in the nanocomposite system, most necks do not contribute to the percolating network, resulting in low network conductance.This framework is extended to the analysis of the nanocomposite system with micro- and nano-scale fillers. The nanocomposite system’s total conduct depends on two network parameters of the numbers of parallel conducting paths and the conductance of individual paths. A conducting path is formed by interconnecting active necks that contain conducting NWs so that it traverses the simulation domain, and the number of such conducting paths connected in parallel determines the amount of the total electrical current flowing across the domain. In addition, a conducting NW can be decomposed into two components in a horizontal direction toward the right end of the domain and its perpendicular vertical direction. The effective length of a conducting NW is defined as the length of the horizontal component of the conducting NW. A large effective length of conducting NW leads to a small number of contacts contained in a conducting path traversing the domain. The contact resistance of the resulting conducting path becomes small. On the other hand, the overall NW resistance does not differ among conducting paths since its value is proportional to the length of the conducting path, which is mostly similar to the length of the domain. Thus, the contact resistance has a dominant contribution to the overall conductance of a conducting path. The addition of micro-scale particulate fillers raises the density of conducting NWs along necks, improving the conductance of conducting paths, and increases the effective length of conducting NWs, leading to the reduction of the contact resistance of conducting paths. Therefore, the overall impact on the system is the increase in the conductance of the percolating network. The addition of nano-scale silica fillers, however, causes the decrease of the conductance of the percolating network, since nano-scale fillers block conducting NWs toward the end of the domain and make them twisted. The kinks of the conducting path increase the traversing distance across the domain, resulting in an increase in the NW resistance, and reduce the effective length of conducting NWs so that the contact resistance also grows. Note also that, since the addition of secondary fillers causes the increase and decrease of the network conductance, it is expected to exist a configuration of filler size that makes the conductance almost unchanged and can be estimated from computational results. Moreover, the aspects of the change in the network conductance for increasing silica content are also explained in a consistent way. According to the experiments and simulation results, the network conductance increases as the content of the micro-scale fillers increases. Additional content of the micro-scale filler increases the density of conducting NWs across necks, thereby increasing the number of current paths. For the increase of the nano-scale silica content, the network conductance, in contrast, diminishes as a large density of nano-scale fillers further increases the kinks of the NWs so that the effective length of conducting NWs shrinks. For the CNT/silica composites with silica fillers of a certain value of the diameter, the nanocomposite system’s total conductance remains almost fixed with increasing silica content. The effects of the introduction of additional current paths and the average conductance decrement are comparable, canceling out these opposite effects.The consideration of nonzero NW resistance introduces several new behaviors of the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite system. Nonzero NW resistance contributes to the total network resistance additively along with the contact resistance. Since the normalized conductance change is the ratio between the contact resistances, the sum of the contact resistance, and the NW resistance, its value is always less than one. The overall NW resistance indeed does not change very much since it depends on the length of the conducting path, which is given by the domain length and is mostly similar among conducting paths. On the other hand, the contact resistance of the nanocomposite system is created by the percolation phenomena. Furthermore, it normally has an exponential relationship with the secondary filler content. Meanwhile, the topology of two cases with and without nonzero NW resistance are identical, and the resulting contact resistance is also identical. Furthermore, the value of the NW resistance is relatively small as compared to the contact resistance, and the resulting normalized conductivity change is strictly less than one. For the increase of the silica content, the contribution of the NW resistance to the overall network conductance remains almost similar since there is little change in the effective length of the domain. By contrast, the contribution of the contact resistance to the network conductance grows since the addition of silica content changes the topology of the conducting network. Therefore, the resulting normalized conductance change becomes relatively small since the numerator and denominator both depend dominantly on the contact resistance.Note here that the secondary filler configurations leading to invariant conductance are different. The case with nonperfect conducting NW requires a larger size of the particulate filler, as shown in Finally, the discussion about the conductivity change caused by the CNT content change is ensured. Note that all configurations have the same geometrical topology with the percolating network. The nanocomposite system with larger WN resistance has a larger value of the normalized conductivity change, as in In summary, we have shown that nonzero values of the electrical conductivity of NWs affect the conductivity variation of CNT composite networks containing secondary fillers along with the filler size. The overall network resistance increases via the addition of nonzero NW resistance, which has been ignored in the most of previous studies on the electrical property analysis of hybrid nanocomposite systems. In addition, the resulting slope of the change becomes less steep, in a linear change. Furthermore, the secondary filler configuration leading to an invariant network conductivity requires additional current so that it causes the increase with the filler size for nonzero NW resistance. The computational technique developed in this work can handle the electrical properties of comprehensive nanocomposite systems consisting of 1-D conducting wires and insulating particulate fillers such as silica-CNT, ZnO-CNT, and This work has developed predictive computational models of the electrical conductivity of the two-dimensional random network with nonzero resistance conducting fillers and suggested strategies designed to enhance the electrical property. The electrical conductance is of a proportional relationship with the size of the secondary filler while showing a consistent decrease with the increasing NW coverage. The consideration of nonzero resistance NWs reduces the impact of the size of the secondary filler on the electrical conductivity of the percolating network, thereby causing linearized changes in the electrical conductivity of the network compared to the case of the perfect conductor. This relationship provides the resistance robustness of the overall network to allow a simplified guideline for the control of electrical properties for hybrid nanocomposite systems. For future research, this work can be extended to study the electrical property of three-dimensional bulk nanocomposites for computational characterization with improved accuracy.


Ghana has one of the most liberal abortion laws in sub-Saharan Africa. The Ghanaian abortion law of 1985 permits abortion in cases of rape, incest or the defilement of a female idiot if the life or health of the woman is in danger; or if there is risk of fetal abnormality. A woman is also legally allowed to obtain an abortion for mental reasons [The more affordable safe abortion fees are, the less likely pregnant adolescents shall turn to unsafe abortion practices , 2. Inde


In the 3.1 Going westward: The Aegean Sea and mainland Greece subsection of the 3. Results section, there is an error in the first sentence of the second paragraph. The authors did not analyze materials from the 1997 excavation. The authors received permission to study the 1957–60 and 1969–70 assemblage via permit KNO-12 issued by the British School of Athens. The correct sentence is: The flaked stone assemblage recovered from the 1957–60 and 1969–70 excavation campaigns by John Evans in the Palace of Knossos has been fully analysed in the frame of this research (S1 Table), offering the earliest evidence of the use of harvesting tools in the Aegean.


This article contains the average daily electric load profile (for 24 h of the day) for the five categories of residential buildings  in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state of Lagos, Nigeria. In each of the LGAs, 10 buildings per residential building type were surveyed for the collection of data with the aid of a questionnaire. In each surveyed household, a household member completed the energy audit section of the questionnaire with the assistance of the questionnaire administrator while the section of the questionnaire designed as a time-of-use diary was left with the household for completion. For each building surveyed, the data retrieved from the completed time-of-use diary was used in Microsoft Excel for computing the hourly electricity load profile for the seven days of the week. In order to obtain the hourly energy load (in watts) for each building, the power rating of the appliances used during each of the 24 h of the day was summed and the result in watts was converted to kWh by dividing by 1000. Each dwelling's daily load profile was obtained as an average of the load profile for the seven days of the week. The article as well provides data on the solar photovoltaic systems’ components designed to supply electricity to the building and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of the systems for the base case scenario and different sensitivity cases obtained from simulations using HOMER Pro. The load profile data provided in this article can be reused by other researchers in the design of solar photovoltaic systems for residential buildings. Specifications Table•The data provides an estimate of residential electricity loads for different categories of buildings in Nigeria which could also be adopted for different developing countries.•The load profile data could be used by other researchers interested in designing off-grid renewable energy systems for residential buildings.•The data on the LCOE of systems designed for the different building categories could be used as a benchmark for further research in renewable energy applications in residential buildings.1This article includes data on the daily electric load profiles and corresponding solar PV components for the different categories of residential buildings in Lagos, Nigeria. 2Residential buildings from three Local Government Areas (LGAs): Kosofe, Oshodi and Alimosho in Lagos Metropolitan Area, Lagos State of Nigeria were surveyed. The survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire and entailed purposive sampling. Lagos is divided into five Administrative Divisions  which are further divided into 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). In each of the LGAs, 10 buildings per residential building type Nigeria  as identified by Jiboye For each building type per LGA, load profiles representing the maximum and minimum building load were used in the HOMER Pro software for modelling the PV systems. The software modelled the system configuration's behaviour for each hour of the year so as to determine the life cycle cost and the technical feasibility of the system. This involves optimization of the system through the simulation of several system configurations with the aim of identifying the system that meets the technical constraints at the lowest life cycle cost. The calculation for the base case scenario was conducted as per the following parameters: 2% and 5% inflation rate and discount rate respectively, a 25-year PV-system lifetime, maximum annual capacity shortage of 0% and 40% minimum battery state of charge (SOC).Sensitivity analysis was conducted with HOMER Pro based on five variables: inflation and discount rates, lifetime of PV system, maximum annual capacity shortage and minimum battery state of charge. The sensitivity analysis was conducted in order to investigate the effect of the variables on the LCOE of the systems.


Aedes aegypti. The occurrence of arboviral diseases with COVID-19 in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region presents challenges and opportunities for strengthening health services, surveillance and control programs. Financing of training, equipment and reconversion of hospital spaces will have a negative effect on already the limited resource directed to the health sector. The strengthening of the diagnostic infrastructure reappears as an opportunity for the national reference laboratories. Sharing of epidemiological information for the modeling of epidemiological scenarios allows collaboration between health, academic and scientific institutions. The fear of contagion by COVID-19 is constraining people with arboviral diseases to search for care which can lead to an increase in serious cases and could disrupt the operation of vector-control programs due to the reluctance of residents to open their doors to health personnel. Promoting intense community participation along with the incorporation of long lasting innovations in vector control offers new opportunities for control. The COVID-19 pandemic offers challenges and opportunities that must provoke positive behavioral changes and encourage more permanent self-care actions.The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenges public health systems around the world. Tropical countries will face complex epidemiological scenarios involving the simultaneous transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with viruses transmitted by  We identify that this will be an additional challenge for the health systems and the economy of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Contrary to what will happen in temperate countries, a large population contingent from tropical countries will experience complex epidemiological scenarios that will involve the simultaneous or intercalated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 with viruses of dengue, Zika and Chikungunya transmitted by Another notable aspect is the potential exhaustion of the surveillance systems to investigate and report arboviral cases in a timely manner. In March 2020, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert calling attention to the trend of increasing dengue cases in at least 27 countries of the Region compared to 2019.Aedes-transmitted diseases (ATDs) mainly affect vulnerable populations living in poor urban or rural areas and in houses with limited access to sewerage and drinking water services.,Despite having limited information on the direct impact on human health of the interaction of arboviral diseases with COVID-19,Health seeking behavior has been dramatically modified by COVID-19, driven by fear of contagion in the population, but also by messages from the health care authorities who recommend staying at home until severe symptoms (breathing problems) develop. In contrast, dengue cases are encouraged to present to health care units for close and early clinical monitoring . Clinical management and rapid diagnosis of both diseases in the context of appropriate health facility triage and case management must be developed. For example, maintaining separate care facilities when possible for COVID-19 and arboviral diseases is highly recommended.On the other hand, the fear of COVID-19 contagion could also disrupt the operation of vector-control programs. Residents may be reluctant to open their doors to health personnel and health brigades may not want to visit SARS-CoV-2 high risk areas because of lack of personal protection equipment and potential exposure to the virus. The evaluation of peridomestic settings arises as an alternative by vector control managers but avoiding the interaction with the community.Challenges and opportunities - The simultaneous occurrence of Aedes-transmitted diseases and COVID-19 in the LAC region presents us with very important challenges but also offers opportunities for strengthening health services, surveillance and control of epidemics  indicates that temperature may not be as limiting for transmission as some hypothesize, however, the differential diagnosis of dengue, Zika and Chikungunya will need to incorporate COVID-19 as a diagnostic possibility, although its confirmation triggers very different control actions. The strengthening of the diagnostic infrastructure reappears as an opportunity to prepare the capacity of the regional, nation and state reference laboratories to diagnose a very wide spectrum of infections agents for which the technical inputs, equipment or trained personnel are not available. Thus, interaction between academic and public health institutions is mandatory as the pandemic has demonstrated.Similarly, proliferation and real-time virtual epidemiological information platforms developed to monitor the pandemic must be available to monitor arboviral diseases and other infectious diseases with the same intensity and frequency with which they have been occurring in mapping the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort to share and integrate epidemiological information sources for the construction and modeling of epidemiological scenarios becomes an imperative for regional health that allows collaboration between health entities with academic and scientific institutions. Examples of such synergy include timely situational analysis, the generation of adequate risk scenarios for the design and selection of more effective control interventions as well as the use of information for education and communication campaigns with the population. An area of opportunity would be the incorporation of communication technologies (TICs) in the test and tracing of contacts as well as mobility surveys in support of the early warning surveillance systems.Traditionally, the countries of the American region based their control activities with the involvement of the community for the removal and control of domestic larval habitats The development of protective kits or tools so family members can perform the application of insecticide by themselves  and the free distribution or purchase by the family of appropriate consumer products like spatial repellents, insecticide treated materials, or screens on doors and windows are interventions that should be encouraged and tested on a wider scale. Given the new circumstances, home visits could be interrupted by physical distancing and it is essential to start incorporating new control strategies that do not depend so much on home visits by health personnel and are better supported by the promotion of domiciliary interventions that may be developed inside the house by the family nucleus. An additional opportunity is the more efficient use of resources that is based on risk stratification targeting areas in urban settings that are responsible for more than 50% of historical cases.Aedes aegypti surveillance and control, the possibility is opened for promoting the incorporation of innovations that do not require and/or can reduce the constant presence of health personnel.,In the case of Of course, the nature of ATDs will also require action in response to outbreaks. The responsive actions are well-known in each country and must be carried out in a timely manner and have the human, consumables, and financial resources for it. Recommendations established in the operational guides must be followed. Chemical control (larvicides and adulticides) should be properly applied and selected based on evidence of susceptibility of the local vector populations to guarantee its effectiveness.In the field of risk communication, the COVID-19 pandemic leaves us with lessons, challenges and opportunities that must lead to better information campaigns. Risk communication strategies that increase positive behavioral changes that combat disinformation and encourage people to incorporate permanent self-care actions and not only in crisis situations. At the same time, the risks of transmission of COVID-19 and its dispersion throughout the territory limit the full development of the activities that require the action of health agents, but it also creates a great opportunity to promote effective participation of population with the incorporation of protective habits of prevention and maintenance of the domestic environment free of risk factors for the presence of vectors. Vector control personnel must be considered essential, and their activities must continue to support the actions required for the effective prevention and control of VTDs, even within the contingency imposed by COVID-19.Given the possible scenario of simultaneous transmission of the ATDs and COVID-19 agents, it is important that the planning of the actions be integrated, combined with the effective multisectoral and population participation where the public and private sectors, schools, the media, tune into the common strategy to deal with health problems. Recently, the countries of the Region of the Americas, with the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), unanimously approved the Plan of Action on Entomology and Vector Control 2018-2023,


This presentation shares the methodology and early findings from a policy scan conducted to understand and assess the impact of COVID-19 policies on dementia care in the community for diverse populations in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The scan provided baseline information on: 1) Provincial legislative and regulatory policies related to dementia care in the community; 2) Orders and legislation enacted in response to COVID-19 that potentially impact those policies. Information was obtained from publicly accessible databases and government websites. Searches were also conducted using Google. 135 Acts were collected and reviewed. A specific aim of the scan was to generate knowledge about the impact of these layered policies in the context of a public health crisis from the perspective of local socially and geographically marginalized communities. A Sex and Gender Based Analysis Plus analytical approach was used to assess potential health equity impacts of COVID-19 policies on dementia care in the community. Information was organized using an adapted Health Equity Impact Assessment tool and Systems Health Equity Lens. Strengths and limitations of the approach and tools are discussed.


We present a formalized proof of the regularity of the infinity predicate on ground terms. This predicate plays an important role in the first-order theory of rewriting because it allows to express the termination property. The paper also contains a formalized proof of a direct tree automaton construction of the normal form predicate, due to Comon.


Presence of two primary malignancies is rare and occurs in 3-5% of the cancer patients. As per our extensive internet research, this is the only reported case of a synchronous sino-nasal embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma with squamous cell carcinoma-tongue. The case report is important because of the rare diagnosis and the challenge we faced in the diagnosis and treatment of the patient because of the paucity of literature available on management adult rhabdomyosarcoma.We present a very rare case of an adult male with a sino-nasal mass diagnosed to be an embryonal type rhabdomyosarcoma. The patient also had a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma-tongue for the past 8 months. Radiological investigations were done to see the extent of the sino-nasal mass and the extent of tongue lesion, which was seen to be involving the base of the tongue. The patient was referred for chemoradiotherapy but succumbed to the disease after 2 weeks of treatment.Occurrence of rhabdomyosarcoma in synchronous malignancies is extremely rare as the most common first as well as second primary malignancy in a diagnosed case of head and neck cancer is squamous cell carcinoma. A multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of adult rhabdomyosarcoma has been recommended. The combined use of chemoradiotherapy and surgery has improved treatment in the recent past but RMS in adults is still a rare head and neck tumour that carries a poor prognosis despite aggressive therapy. Presence of two primary malignancies is rare and occurs in 3-5 % of the cancer patients. In a case of head and neck cancer, the second primary tumour mostly develops in the head and neck region . In headA 34-year-old male presented with a complaint of left nasal cavity mass, nasal obstruction for the past 6 months . The patient also had a tongue ulcer on the left lateral aspect of the tongue for the past 8 months. The patient was already a diagnosed case of carcinoma tongue at the previous hospital 6 months back. The histopathology was moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The patient neglected tongue ulcer and did not take any treatment. There was no history of any substance abuse .On examination, the oral cavity showed an ulcerative lesion over the left lateral border of the tongue (anterior two-thirds) of the size 3x1 cm. On palpation, ulcer base was indurated with induration extending posteriorly to involve left side tongue base. On nasal examination, widening of the nasal bridge along with left-sided periorbital swelling was present, more so in the region of the left medial canthus.Reddish polypoidal mass was seen protruding from the left nostril which was covered with necrotic slough. The septum was pushed towards the opposite side. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) of the nose and paranasal sinus showed heterogenous mass with mild enhancement completely filling the left nasal cavity with opacification of the left maxillary sinus and anteriorly extending out of the nasal cavity. Medially, the mass was causing bowing of the nasal septum towards the right. Postero-superiorly, it was extending to the sphenoid sinus and causing widening of the on the left spheno-ethmoidal recess. Erosion of lamina papyracea was also seen on the left side Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) face showed an irregular heterogeneously hypointense lobulated soft tissue mass (95 mm x31mm x48mm) in the left nasal cavity extending up to the left ethmoid sinuses superiorly, medial canthus of the left orbit antero-superiorly and into the left half of nasopharynx through left choana with associated mucosal thickening of the left maxillary and bilateral frontal sinuses. An enhancing lesion involving the base of tongue was also seen. .Biopsy from nasal cavity mass showed elongated spindle-shaped cells with features of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma . The biopsy sample was also subjected to immunohistochemistry with myogenin marker and the diagnosis was confirmed.Owing to the pathology and the extent of the sino-nasal tumour, the case was discussed with the Department of Radiotherapy and a multimodality treatment was planned. The patient was referred for chemoradiotherapy (CRT) initially with surgical excision of the nasal mass later on kept as an option if required post-chemoradiotherapy. Unfortunately, the patient succumbed to the disease after 2 weeks of chemoradiotherapy due to the advanced stage of the disease and poor health.Second primary malignancy (SPM) represents the leading cause of mortality in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), responsible for approximately one-third of HNSCC deaths that is three times the deaths due to distant metastasis . Hong et al in 1990, based on the original criteria given by Warren and Gates in 1932, proposed the criteria for the definition of the second primary malignancy (SPM): the tumours have to be histologically certified as malignant; if they are of identical histological type, it must be an interval of at least three years between the two malignancies and/or presence of a distance of at least 2 cm of mucosa unchanged between the index tumour and the second primary tumour; it has to exclude the possibility that the second tumour to be the metastasis of the index tumor  which was unresectable made CRT a better option. Also, the paucity of literature available on the management of synchronous malignancies, one of which is a rhabdomyosarcoma posed difficulty in deciding the management protocol. The combined use of chemoradiotherapy and surgery has improved treatment in the recent past but RMS in adults is still a rare head and neck tumour that carries a poor prognosis despite aggressive therapy.


Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) is a highly devastating viral infection of small ruminants. Dromedary camels live in close proximity of small ruminants in Arabian Peninsula (AP) and many other regions in the world. Little is known about the reasons behind continuous PPRV emergence in Saudi Arabia (KSA). Our objective was to test some dromedary camel population across the kingdom for the presence of specific PPRV antibodies. Our results show detection of specific PPRV antibodies (2.92%) in sera of tested dromedary camels from the eastern and south regions of the KSA. Our results suggest the exposure of dromedary camels to PPRV infection. Thus, dromedary camels may play some important roles in the sustainability of PPRV in the small ruminants across the AP. This is the first study examined the nationwide prevalence of the PPRV in dromedary camels in the KSA.Infection with the  Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) virus (PPRV) infection is a major viral disease affecting small ruminants, especially in Africa and Asia. Direct contact between PPRV infected and naïve animals facilitate transmission through both respiratory and fecal-oral routes  version 21.We conducted both a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis for our samples. We used Chi-square to test the significance of the difference between frequencies. Descriptive statistical analysis conducted to analyses the basic demographics. A Involvement of dromedary camels in the evolution and transmission of PPRV is inconsistent. Some studies have reported the absence of PPRV antibodies in sera of dromedary camels in the Canary Islands and the KSA . HoweverInterestingly, 10 PPRV positive samples were from Jazan in the southern part of the country. This outcome may be related to the fact that this region shares a border Yemen, a PPR endemic country. An outbreak of the PPRV in dromedary camels in Iran confirms the potential roles of dromedary camels in the life cycle of the PPRV . More reDetection of PPRV specific antibodies in sera of dromedary camels without previous vaccination history suggests exposure of these animals to the virus through natural routes of infection.


Older adults over the age of 75 are severely underrepresented in many of the clinical trials used to justify the continued use of medications for chronic disease prevention in advanced age. The gaps in evidence in this population have fueled an interest in research to better understand the potential benefits and harms associated with the continued use of medications with uncertain benefit in advanced age. Deprescribing, the intentional reduction or discontinuation of medications, has recently gained traction as an important component of the prescribing process, but raises questions about the safety of stopping medications. This presentation will provide an overview of the evolution of deprescribing research and how this has shaped my career as a geriatric health services researcher. Specifically, I will address early studies that defined the field, challenges and opportunities for studying deprescribing in older adults, and future directions and priorities in deprescribing research.


The discovery that transcription is pervasive with the vast majority of the genome encoding transcripts not translated into proteins, has transformed our understanding of the basic unit of genetic information  are powerful tools for gene expression profiling and can sequence large numbers of DNA fragments in parallel producing millions of short reads in a single run Metzker, . These mHoldt et al. report on the latest findings on circRNA in CVDs, the potential therapeutic approaches based on either modulation of native circRNAs by therapeutic knockdown or by ectopic expression and the prospect of engineering non-native  circRNAs. The major hurdles for therapeutic strategies targeting circRNA in terms of design, delivery, and side effects are considered.Bioinformatic analysis of RNA-seq data also revealed a novel class of lncRNA transcripts, the circular RNAs (circRNAs) that emerge by RNA “backsplicing,” whereby the spliceosome fuses a splice donor site in a downstream exon to a splice acceptor site in an upstream exon . Their interaction with RNA binding proteins (RBPs) is thought to be crucial for very diverse cellular functions  and lncRNAs and the large body of evidence demonstrating their pleiotropic effects in pathological processes in vascular diseases. The potential of ncRNAs as effectors and biomarkers in vascular pathology is critically evaluated and insights into the technical limitations in establishing a standard protocol to ensure robust reproducibility for circulating ncRNAs as biomarkers in vascular diseases are provided.Apart from diabetic vasculopathy, ncRNAs have a profound effect in the vasculature at baseline and in disease. Hobuß et al. summarize the function of lncRNAs in the development and progression of cardiac diseases with a particular emphasis on their molecular mode of action in pathological tissue remodeling. They also examine the challenges that have to be overcome to establish lncRNA based therapies and effective intervention strategies in the heart. In addition, the prognostic and diagnostic value of lncRNAs in biological fluids as a novel class of circulating biomarkers for heart diseases and the prospect of using these molecular fingerprints to replace protein-based indicators of disease is discussed.In the heart, an increasing number of studies highlight the critical regulation of lncRNAs in cardiac disorders. Laina et al. highlight the two main designs to target RNA and modulate gene expression the double-stranded small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and single stranded antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) their advantages and limitations. The review also summarizes results from the clinical trials of RNA-targeting interventions and elaborates on the advances and hurdles for RNA based therapeutic applications. The future prospect of RNA therapeutics to empower precision medicine implementation and fulfill the promise of patient specific therapeutics is also evaluated.Extending beyond ncRNA, RNA therapeutics focus on RNA as a prime target for therapeutic applications. in vivo delivery of targeting agents are required to bring RNA based therapeutics closer to the clinic.In conclusion, this Research Topic elucidates the current understanding about the mechanisms of function of ncRNA and its role in CVDs and highlights the major advancements and promising developments in RNA therapeutics. Despite the significant progress this is a new field of research and several challenges remain. Better understanding of the mechanisms of function of ncRNAs and integration of innovative approaches to enhance target binding affinity, cellular uptake and efficient AZ and LM wrote and revised the manuscript.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.