Abstract This paper proposes a general superstructure and a Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) model for the synthesis and simultaneous optimisation and Heat Integration (HI) of Single- and Multiple-Effect Evaporation (SEE/MEE) systems including Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) and the background process. The proposed superstructure also includes different flow patterns (forward feed, backward feed, parallel feed and mixed feed), Flashing of Condensates (FCs), single- and multi-stage MVR systems and various HI opportunities for preheating of feed stream (e.g. with condensates, bled vapours, and hot streams from the background process). The newly proposed SEE/MEE-FC-MVR superstructure is combined with a Heat Exchanger Network (HEN) superstructure for performing simultaneous optimisation and HI. On the basis of this combined superstructure, an MINLP model with tight bounds on the variables is developed and implemented for its solution in the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). The model is solved using a two-step solution strategy. The proposed model enables to explore simultaneously all interconnections within the proposed superstructure in order to find the configuration with the optimal trade-offs between capital and energy costs as demonstrated in this paper for different cases of a milk concentration process.

SUMMARY – The purpose of the study was to assess the level of serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and its association with the stage and histopathologic sizes of colorectal cancer (CRC). One hundred and two patients having undergone surgical treatment of CRC between January 2014 and December 2015 were included in this cross-sectional study. The patients were divided into four groups (stage I-IV) according to the TNM classification. Control group included 30 subjects with no signs of malignancy and inflammatory diseases. In each patient, preoperative blood samples were obtained for determination of MDA concentration by ELISA immunoassay. Serum levels of MDA were progressively increased in patients with CRC, reaching the highest value in the fourth stage of CRC. Serum concentrations of MDA were significantly higher in pT4 group as compared with pT3 and pT2 groups of CRC patients (p<0.01). Significantly higher levels of MDA were found in the N1 and N2 groups of CRC patients as compared with N0 group, as well as in patients with metastatic disease as compared with those without metastasis (p<0.001). In conclusion, the progression of CRC is associated with a significant increase in serum MDA levels.

The increasing body of research is focused on developing tools and applications that aid the learning process of children with or without disabilities. However, learning by gaming is still not recognized by formal educational systems. The author believes that the application of this approach is particularly slow at the level of primary and secondary education in countries with low and middle income, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Integrating serious games into curricula in these contexts could significantly benefit the students, as well as the community in general. This work, therefore, promotes technology as one of the crucial educational and pedagogical components. It provides an overview of selected educational games created for pre-school and elementary school children with specific learning intentions revolving around alphabet, colours and elementary science. A pilot study was performed with neuro-typical and neuro-atypical children, and professionals working at an NGO ``EDUS - Education for All''. The findings show that both students and instructors have a positive attitude towards the game design and logic, and more importantly, towards the technology itself. In the end, we believe that the games presented in this paper can be valuable resources for teachers, as well as for children and parents.

Cystatin F is an inhibitor of cysteine peptidases expressed solely in immune cells. It is the only type II cystatin able to enter endosomal/lysosomal vesicles and to regulate directly the activity of intracellular cysteine cathepsins. Its expression in promonocytic U937 and promyeloblastic HL-60 cells is highly upregulated but, after differentiation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate - PMA, its levels drop significantly. In contrast, the activities of intracellular cysteine cathepsins C, L and S are higher in differentiated cells than in non-differentiated ones due, presumably, to the lower inhibitory capacity of cystatin F. Using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, proximity ligation assay and co-immunoprecipitation, cathepsins C, L and S were confirmed to be the main interacting partners of cystatin F in U937 and HL-60 cells. The promoter region of the cystatin F gene, CST7, contains a unique binding site for transcription factor C/EBP α, one of the main myeloid differentiation instructors. Using the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, C/EBP α was shown to bind to CST7 gene in U937 cells. Following cell differentiation with PMA, the binding of C/EBP α was decreased significantly. The protein level of C/EBP α was also significantly lower in differentiated than in non-differentiated cells. It was shown that, during monocyte to macrophage differentiation, the endosomal/lysosomal proteolytic activity can be regulated by cystatin F whose expression is under the control of transcriptional factor C/EBP α.

Abstract The micromechanics of kink band formation in open-hole fibre composites under compressive loading is described. The objective being the development of a methodology for designing of structural components with open-holes. Our results explain why failure by kink band formation propagates from the edges of an open-hole in a direction almost perpendicular to the loading direction and why the 0 degree plies govern the compressive failure of an open-hole laminate. The proposed design methodology accounts for the microstructure, including the fibre/matrix bonding, and the nonlinear behaviour of the constituents, enabling it to prevent local failure at the hole edges, or global failure, by kink banding of a laminate containing stress concentrations.

We examine a machine learning approach for detecting common Class and Method level code smells (Data Class and God Class, Feature Envy and Long Method). The focus of the work is selection of reduced set of features that will achieve high classification accuracy. The proposed features may be used by the developers to develop better quality software since the selected features focus on the most critical parts of the code that is responsible for creation of common code smells. We obtained a high accuracy results for all four code smells using the selected features: 98.57% for Data Class, 97.86% for God Class, 99.67% for Feature Envy, and 99.76% for Long Method.

While the increasing penetration of renewable energy resources (RERs) into the electric power grid reduces greenhouse gas emissions, it may drive the grid’s parts towards the “weak grid” conditions under which grid instability may occur due to small disturbances leading to voltage oscillations affecting the operation of renewable generation plants. To avoid such grid weak issues, one effective way is to reinforce the power grid by updating its components. A cost-effective grid reinforcement needs the information of critical components whose updates can significantly strengthen the power grid for renewable energy operation. In this paper, we study the identification of such critical components by the impact analysis of power network structure on grid strength. It is shown that the critical network components are shared by critical transmission paths between renewable energy resources and synchronous generation resources in a power grid. Moreover, critical transmission paths can be identified with the network structure information represented in node admittance matrix and node impedance matrix. Numerical results are demonstrated in the IEEE-9 bus and IEEE-39 bus systems.

The paper considers a problem of feature matching and object detection in two images using brute-force matchers. The proposed framework exploited several concurrent algorithms for feature detection and descriptor extraction, such as ORB (Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF), BRISK (Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints), SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) and SURF (Speeded-Up Robust Features). The feature matching is accomplished by the Brute-Force approach combined with the k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm. The obtained matches are utilized by the robust RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus) method for estimating the transformation between two consecutive images. Therefore, the RANSAC method is employed to improve the outliers removal. The proposed algorithm is designed and implemented using OpenCV library. Its effectiveness and quality are verified through analyses of its execution speed and accuracy of the feature matching.

The paper treats a design of the mobile robot motion framework based on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC). This approach relies on laser range-finder measurements and safety regions described around the detected obstacles. The controller optimization involves both actuator and environment constraints excluding safety regions. The safe motion of the mobile robot using the proposed framework is provided in unknown static and dynamic environments. Stability issue of the used closed-loop motion control system is guaranteed employing direct Lyapunov method. The simulation setup was conducted using a 2D simulator (Stage) in the Robot Operating System (ROS) environment. The obtained results through different scenarios demonstrates that proposed NMPC-based framework approach ensures smooth trajectories from start to the goal point.

ABSTRACT Aptamers are synthetic molecules structured as single‐stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that can be designed to mimic the functional properties of monoclonal antibodies. They bind to the target molecules (typically soluble or cell‐bound proteins) with high affinity (with picomolar to low nanomolar range) and specificity, and therefore can be an alternative to therapeutic antibodies or peptide ligands. This paper reviews published data regarding pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety of aptamers from preclinical and clinical studies. Aptamers have been developed for the treatment of a variety of diseases, including cancer, macular degeneration,g cardiovascular disease, diabetes and anaemia of chronic diseases. There are several preclinical studies with unmodified aptamers, but the vast majority of aptamer trials in humans have been conducted with modified aptamers, because unmodified aptamers demonstrate metabolic instability, as well as rapid renal filtration and elimination. Various strategies have been developed to improve the pharmacokinetic profile of aptamers. Aside from chemical modification of nucleotides in order to stabilize them against nuclease degradation, the main modification to extend the half‐life is pegylation. Therefore, the process of pegylation as well as its benefits and possible shortcomings will briefly be discussed. Graphical abstract Figure. No Caption available.

To compare the trajectories of motor and cognitive decline in older adults who progress to dementia with the trajectories of those who do not. To evaluate the added value of measuring motor and cognitive decline longitudinally versus cross‐sectionally for predicting dementia.