Recent findings in action mechanics showing torques result from rates of variation in impulsive action motivated this more fundamental approach to estimate maximum power from wind turbines. Newton’s third law of equality of action and reaction provides a strictly causal mechanism of wind power from the deflection of wind momentum by twice its angle (θ) of incidence on rotor blades. The lateral reaction needed to conserve wind momentum provides the turning moment for the turbine rotors. This direct approach challenges the current continuum mechanism for generating power from flows of kinetic energy in wind passing through the areas swept by rotating blades. Action mechanics integrates the rates of impulsive wind action on turbine blades as torques (∫mrvdθ/dt ≡ mv2) exerted on rotor surfaces at decreasing radii. Windward torque (Tw) is estimated from rotor dimensions, the angle of wind incidence and radial action of wind impulses on the blade surfaces (also ∫mrvdθ/dt ≡ mv2). A leeward torque (Tb) for back reaction of turbine blades on air mimics drag exerted parallel to the plane of rotation of the blade. Net torque is then converted to potential power (Tw - Tb)Ω by the angular velocity (Ω) of the turbine rotors, a function of tip speed ratio to wind speed. New contributions from action mechanics for managing wind power include larger estimates of its possible magnitude by including vortical energy, much larger than the kinetic energy. Better predictions of limits to wind power can be made, by including control of optimal wind angle and blade length. An analysis of the equivalence of deflected air momentum on turbine blades or air foils for aircraft reveals that even the lifting action on air foils can be explained by the normal reaction to the momentum in an air stream, also deflected by an angle twice that (2θ) of incidence, validating application of action mechanics to airflight. A mechanism for release of vortical field energy from laminar flow of air in anticyclones is predicted in turbulent downstream wakes, possibly assisting achievement of maximum power output by wind farms. Significant heat release by downwind turbulence from vortical energy requires care for their location. Diligence demands that use of windfarms as major sources of renewable energy should minimize any environmental impacts, such as drying of landscapes.

Wireless battery management systems (BMSs) are increasingly being considered for modern applications. The ever-increasing complexity and production costs of BMS modules and wired connections resulted in a necessity for new ideas and approaches. Despite this growing trend, there is a lack of generic solutions focused on battery cells’ sensor readout, where wireless communication allows for a more flexible and cost-efficient sensor installation in battery packs. Many wireless technologies, such as those that use the 2.4GHz frequency band, suffer from interference and other limitations. In this article, we present an alternative approach to communication in BMS that relies on the use of near field communication (NFC) technology for battery sensor readouts. As an answer to the rising concern over the counterfeited battery packs, we consider an authentication schema for battery pack validation. We further consider security measures for the processed and stored BMS status data. To show that a general BMS application can make use of our design, we implement a BMS demonstrator using the targeted components. We further test the demonstrator on the technical and functional level, by also performing evaluation on its performance, energy usage, and a security threat model.

Abstract Objectives The shape is commonly used to describe the objects. State-of-the-art algorithms in medical imaging are predominantly diverging from computer vision, where voxel grids, meshes, point clouds, and implicit surface models are used. This is seen from the growing popularity of ShapeNet (51,300 models) and Princeton ModelNet (127,915 models). However, a large collection of anatomical shapes (e.g., bones, organs, vessels) and 3D models of surgical instruments is missing. Methods We present MedShapeNet to translate data-driven vision algorithms to medical applications and to adapt state-of-the-art vision algorithms to medical problems. As a unique feature, we directly model the majority of shapes on the imaging data of real patients. We present use cases in classifying brain tumors, skull reconstructions, multi-class anatomy completion, education, and 3D printing. Results By now, MedShapeNet includes 23 datasets with more than 100,000 shapes that are paired with annotations (ground truth). Our data is freely accessible via a web interface and a Python application programming interface and can be used for discriminative, reconstructive, and variational benchmarks as well as various applications in virtual, augmented, or mixed reality, and 3D printing. Conclusions MedShapeNet contains medical shapes from anatomy and surgical instruments and will continue to collect data for benchmarks and applications. The project page is: https://medshapenet.ikim.nrw/.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major global health problems and it’s related to the enormous number of human deaths. The occurrence and severity of infections caused by microbial pathogens illustrate the need for the identification and characterization of novel antimicrobial agents of natural origin. This review discusses a well-known coniferous genus Abies Mill. in terms of antimicrobial potential. Data regarding the antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties of Abies species were collected and summarized in this review. It was found that 13 different Abies species are recognized as potential sources of antimicrobial compounds. The most investigated species was A. spectabilis (syn. A. webbiana), followed by A. alba, A. cilicica, A. sibirica, A. nordmanniana, A. numidica, A. koreana, A. balsamea, A. holophylla, and A. concolor. Individual studies on A. firma, A. beshanzuensis, and A. cephalonica were also taken into account. The largest number of analyzed results were related to the antibacterial activity of Abies-derived products, but studies on antifungal, and particularly antiviral capacity were also noted. The most investigated products were essential oils and extracts. The broadest antimicrobial activity was observed for A. cilicica. This study noted that some endemic and endangered Abies species were being used for antimicrobial purposes. In that term, the rationalization of the sampling practices and the implementation of the conservation activities are of great importance. This review represents a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the antimicrobial potential of the genus Abies.

- The low recovery of oil (only one-third) is mainly related to the displacement efficiency of porous media, which is influenced by wettability and interfacial tension. Since a large amount of oil deposits, two third of the original oil-in-place is trapped by the capillary forces, and there is a need to recover residual oil by improving oil recovery techniques. Although gas, thermal, microbial, and chemical injection is very popular and highly used techniques, they have some disadvantages. Therefore, tertiary oil recovery techniques, such as the application of nanofluids and nanocomposites, may solve this problem. The selection of appropriate techniques depends on the reservoir and economics. The mobility ratio and the mechanisms for nano-enhanced oil recovery have also been explained. Silica, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, carbon-based nanoparticles, graphene quantum dots, graphene oxide nanosheets, and anionic surfactants are widely used in enhanced oil recovery research. Nanocomposites were discussed recently prepared, including potassium chloride/silicon dioxide/xanthan and zinc oxide/silicon dioxide/xanthan nanocomposite and others. The reviewed literature experimental data has shown that it is possible to increase the enhanced oil recovery in the 10 to 79% range depending on the applied nanofluid or nanocomposite.

This dataset is composed of cervical spine CT images with annotations related to fractures; it is available at https://www.kaggle.com/competitions/rsna-2022-cervical-spine-fracture-detection/.

Purpose - The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate which internal organizational factors drive digital transformation for business model innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on a Delphi study from both a South African and Dutch scholarly and industry perspective. The Delphi study uses a questionnaire to query the commonly cited internal organizational factors that drive digital transformation for business model innovation in SMEs in an emerging and a developed economy. Findings – The paper identifies two important internal organizational factors driving digital transformation for business model innovation in SMEs: (a) a renewal of business strategy and (b) a renewal of business culture. It identifies various subfactors within these two internal organizational factors.   Originality/value – The study contributes to the current understanding of the internal organizational factors that drive digital transformation for business model innovation in SMEs. Researchers can use these factors and associated subfactors as a basis for future research. To practitioners, the findings provide a guideline on which business activities in SMEs to (re)arrange to enable digital transformation-induced business model innovation.

Understanding the behaviour of a system’s API can be hard. Giving users access to relevant examples of how an API behaves has been shown to make this easier for them. In addition, such examples can be used to verify expected behaviour or identify unwanted behaviours. Methods for automatically generating examples have existed for a long time. However, state-of-the-art methods rely on either white-box information, such as source code, or on formal specifications of the system behaviour. But what if you do not have access to either? This may be the case, for example, when interacting with a third-party API. In this paper, we present an approach to automatically generate relevant examples of behaviours of an API, without requiring either source code or a formal specification of behaviour. Evaluation on an industry-grade REST API shows that our method can produce small and relevant examples that can help engineers to understand the system under exploration.

Abstract This article examines the user experience and cognitive workload in digital storytelling through immersive virtual reality (VR). Specifically, it explores the relationship between various aspects of the user experience and their link to the cognitive workload. The investigation was conducted by means of a large-scale evaluation of an underwater archaeological VR experience that simulated diving into the reconstructions of a submerged ancient site combined with interactive 360° video storytelling. The evaluation included 125 participants from two different geographical locations. Results revealed a strong interdependence between all user experience scales, including presence, immersion, engagement, emotional response, state of flow, subjective judgment, and technological adoption of the VR equipment. Moreover, the sense of presence in VR was strongly related to the reported task performance. The article highlights the importance of understanding the user experience and cognitive workload when creating digital storytelling applications in immersive VR.

Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik. (known as shepherd's purse) is a plant whose parts are used as medicine in herbal medicine. It is applicable as a medicine in the treatment of all forms of internal bleeding, for the treatment of hemorrhoids, excessive menstruation, but also for the usual stopping of nosebleeds. Through this research, the influence of organic solvents and their aqueous mixtures on the efficiency of polyphenol extraction and antioxidant activity was compared. The inhibition of free radicals was tested by the DPPH method, while the FRAP method was used to test the reduction potential. Analyzes have shown that water is the most effective solvent in the isolation of polyphenols from the aerial parts of shepherd's purse. Mixtures of organic solvents with water also showed high efficiency in the extraction of bioactive components, while the weakest results were obtained for extracts prepared in pure organic solvents.

Groundwater is an essential resource for drinking water, but its contamination with potentially toxic elements and arsenic (As) is a global issue. To evaluate As and its levels in the Coachella Valley, the US Geological Survey (USGS) collected 17 groundwater samples. This study looked into the arsenic distribution, enrichment, hydrogeochemical behavior, and health risks associated with the samples. The comparative analysis between groundwater contamination in Greater Palm Springs and similar regions, could provide valuable insights into regional differences and common challenges. The hydrogeochemical facies showed the dominance of calcium and magnesium-bicarbonate-carbonate, indicating permanent hardness and salt deposits of residual carbonate. The Gibbs plot demonstrated that chemical weathering of rock-forming minerals and evaporation are the primary forces impacting groundwater chemistry. Geochemical modeling revealed saturation for calcite and dolomite, and under-saturation for halite. Principal component analysis identified the potential contributory sources for contamination of groundwater. The carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic potentials of the toxic elements arsenic, cadmium, chromium (VI), and lead were calculated using a human health risk assessment model. For both adults and children, the highest non-carcinogenic mean value was observed for arsenic (8.52 × 10−1), with the lowest for cadmium (1.32 × 10−3). Children had the highest cumulative non-carcinogenic risk from potentially toxic elements. Our research offers crucial baseline data for assessing arsenic in groundwater at the regional level, which is important for health risk reduction and remediation programs. The data show that preventative action must be taken to reduce the potential health risks in the study area from drinking groundwater, particularly for children.

Purpose Data on long-term effect of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients with large ischemic cores (≥ 70 ml) are scarce. Our study aimed to assess the long-term outcomes in MT-patients according to baseline advanced imaging parameters. Methods We performed a single-centre retrospective cohort study of stroke patients receiving MT between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2018. We assessed baseline imaging to determine core and mismatch volumes and hypoperfusion intensity ratio (with low ratio reflecting good collateral status) using RAPID automated post-processing software. Main outcomes were cross-sectional long-term mortality, functional outcome and quality of life by May 2020. Analysis were stratified by the final reperfusion status. Results In total 519 patients were included of whom 288 (55.5%) have deceased at follow-up (median follow-up time 28 months, interquartile range 1–55). Successful reperfusion was associated with lower long-term mortality in patients with ischemic core volumes ≥ 70 ml (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.20; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.10–0.44) and ≥ 100 ml (aHR 0.26; 95% CI 0.08–0.87). The effect of successful reperfusion on long-term mortality was significant only in the presence of relevant mismatch (aHR 0.17; 95% CI 0.01–0.44). Increasing reperfusion grade was associated with a higher rate of favorable outcomes (mRS 0–3) also in patients with ischemic core volume ≥ 70 ml (aOR 3.58, 95% CI 1.64–7.83). Conclusion Our study demonstrated a sustainable benefit of better reperfusion status in patients with large ischemic core volumes. Our results suggest that patient deselection based on large ischemic cores alone is not advisable.

Introduction: COVID-19 has been a major focus of scientific research since early 2020. Due to its societal, economic, and clinical impact worldwide, research efforts aimed, among other questions, to address the effect of host genetics in susceptibility and severity of COVID-19. Methods: We, therefore, performed next-generation sequencing of coding and regulatory regions of 16 human genes, involved in maintenance of the immune system or encoding receptors for viral entry into the host cells, in a subset of 60 COVID-19 patients from the General Hospital Tešanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, classified into three groups of clinical conditions of different severity (“mild,” “moderate,” and “severe”). Results: We confirmed that the male sex and older age are risk factors for severe clinical picture and identified 13 variants on seven genes (CD55, IL1B, IL4, IRF7, DDX58, TMPRSS2, and ACE2) with potential functional significance, either as genetic markers of modulated susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection or modifiers of the infection severity. Our results include variants reported for the first time as potentially associated with COVID-19, but further research and larger patient cohorts are required to confirm their effect. Discussion: Such studies, focused on candidate genes and/or variants, have a potential to answer the questions regarding the effect of human genetic makeup on the expected infection outcome. In addition, loci we identified here were previously reported to have clinical significance in other diseases and viral infections, thus confirming a general, broader significance of COVID-19-related research results following the end of the pandemic period.

Distribution of radionuclides depends on various factors, and milk processing into cheese is recommended as one of the significant measures of radiation protection during radioactive contamination of the environment. A total of 16 milk and 16 cheese (soft and hard) samples were examined using HPGe gamma‐ray spectrometry to obtain 137Cs and 40K activity concentrations. The Pearson's correlation coefficients between 137Cs and 40K were determined (0.73, 0.68, 0.19, −0.23), followed by determination of distribution of 137Cs and 40K from cow milk to two types of cheeses using food processing retention factors (0.07–0.34). Transfer of 137Cs obtained could serve a great purpose for predicting its distribution during cheesemaking.

Biological activity of boron-containing compounds (BCCs) has been well-known. Growing interest and numerous applications for BCCs have been reported. Boron and boron-containing acids show low acute toxicity in mammals but data on halogenated boroxine (HB) - dipotassium-trioxohydroxytetrafluorotriborate, K 2 (B 3 O 3 F 4 OH) acute toxicity have not been reported before. This compound, characterized as a potential therapeutic for skin changes, exhibits no observable genotoxicity in doses lower that 0.1 mg/ml in vitro and 55 mg/kg in vivo. It has also been confirmed as an antitumour agent both in vitro and in vivo as well as an inhibitor of enzymes involved in antioxidant mechanisms. The aim of this study was to assess the acute toxicity of HB and to determine the maximum tolerated dose as well as a dose free of any signs of toxicity in different test organisms. Acute toxicity of HB was tested in Sprague-Dawley and Wistar rats and BALB/c mice after single parenteral application of different doses. We determined doses free of any sign of toxicity and LD 50 after single dose administration. LD 50 of HB ranges from 63 to 75 mg/kg in different test models, meaning that HB shows moderate toxicity.