It is well-known that, in the past decades, the burning of fossil fuels was identified as the major cause of climate change. Climate change mitigation is becoming a central concern of global society. Limiting global warming to below 2 °C above the temperature of the pre-industrial period is the key to preserving global ecosystems and providing a secure basis for human activities, as well as reducing excessive environmental change. The ambitions increased at an accelerated pace with a dramatic expansion of net zero-emission targets. Increasing pressure from citizens and society has forced countries to intensify their climate plans, while the private sector has bought a record amount of renewable energy. An energy system based on fossil fuels must be replaced by renewable energy with low carbon emissions with improved energy efficiency. That applies to all consumers of fossil energy: cities, villages, building sectors, industry, transport, agriculture, and forestry. The paper explores and presents the strategy of energy development of renewable energy sources in the world. The application of new technologies that have led to developing renewable energy sources is presented in detail: wind energy, solar energy, small hydropower plants, biomass, and their increase in the total share of energy production, i.e., reduced fossil fuel use in energy production. Investments in new technologies used in renewable energy sources have led to increases in employment worldwide. Analysis of the trend of increased energy production from RES (Renewable Energy Sources) with investment plans, the employment rate for each energy source, and the development of renewable energy sources in the coming period are provided.

Based on the interaction between ascorbic acid and bromocresol purple, a new simple, straightforward, and quick method for the quantification of ascorbic acid is proposed. The procedure is based on the determined quenching effect of ascorbic acid on the natural fluorescence signal of bromocresol purple in the reaction between ascorbic acid and bromocresol purple in phosphate buffer solution (pH 6). The reduction of bromocresol purple fluorescence intensity is detected at 641 nm, while excitation occurs at 318 nm. The linear relationship between the reduced fluorescence intensity of bromocresol purple and the concentration of ascorbic acid is in the range 4.65 × 10–5 to 4.65 × 10–6 mol L−1 (R2 = 0.9964), with the detection limit of 8.77 × 10–7 mol L−1 and quantification limit of 2.35 × 10–5 mol L−1. The findings in this study further show that the new method provides good precision and repeatability, as well as satisfactory recovery values in terms of accuracy. The new method is tested on fifteen samples with different amounts of ascorbic acid and additional components. The effects of interfering components such as citrus bioflavonoids, citric acid, folic acid, paracetamol, calcium, and magnesium carbonate on the intensity of fluorescence of bromocresol purple are also investigated. The effects of interfering components such as citrus bioflavonoids (routine and hesperidin), citric acid, folic acid, paracetamol, calcium, and magnesium carbonate on the intensity of fluorescence of bromocresol purple are also investigated. The results of iodometric titration point out that the new method is effective for the determination of ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical samples. A new spectrofluorimetric method for determination of ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical samples using bromocresol purple. Determination of optimal parameters for ascorbic acid determination in a variety of pharmaceutical samples. Examination of the influence of additional substances in the pharmaceutical samples on the analysis. A new spectrofluorimetric method for determination of ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical samples using bromocresol purple. Determination of optimal parameters for ascorbic acid determination in a variety of pharmaceutical samples. Examination of the influence of additional substances in the pharmaceutical samples on the analysis.

In this study, the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the hydrodistilled essential oil of Achillea lingulata, an endemic species of the Euro-Mediterranean region, originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was investigated for the first time. For comparison, an analysis of the essential oil of the widely distributed Achillea millefolium, which grows together in the same habitat, was made. Ninety-six components were identified in A. lingulata and A. millefolium oils comprising 97.8% and 85.8%, of the total oil, respectively. The oil of A. lingulata was characterized by a high content of oxygenated monoterpenes (76.8%). The main compounds were borneol (30.1%), trans-verbenol (15.5%), 2-tridecanone (12.2%), fragranol (8.3%), and myrtenol (7.9%). In contrast, essential oil of A. millefolium had oxygenated sesquiterpenes (60.8%) as the most abundant compounds, with elemol (32.9%) as the main constituent. In addition, γ-eudesmol (12.9%), caryophyllene oxide (7.7%), transcaryophyllene (5.7%) and γ-muurolene (4.7%) were present in a significant percentage in A. millefolium oil. Antioxidant activity was tested by three methods, ABTS, DPPH and FRAP, and the obtained results showed low activity of both investigated oils.

ABSTRACT Breast cancer, the most frequent disease amongst women worldwide, accounts for the highest cancer-related mortality rate. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype encompasses ~15% of all breast cancers and lack estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Although risk factors for breast cancer are well-known, factors underpinning breast cancer onset and progression remain unknown. Recent studies suggest the plausible role of oncoviruses including human papillomaviruses (HPVs), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in breast cancer pathogenesis. However, the role of these oncoviruses in TNBC is still unclear. In the current study, we explored the status of high-risk HPVs, EBV, and MMTV in a well-defined TNBC cohort from Croatia in comparison to 16 normal/non TNBC samples (controls) using polymerase chain reaction assay. We found high-risk HPVs and EBV present in 37/70 (53%) and 25/70 (36%) of the cases, respectively. The most common HPV types are 52, 45, 31, 58 and 68. We found 16% of the samples positive for co-presence of high-risk HPVs and EBV. Moreover, our data revealed that 5/70 (7%) samples are positive for MMTV. In addition, only 2/70 (3%) samples had co-presence of HPVs, EBV, and MMTV without any significant association with the clinicopathological variables. While, 6/16 (37.5%) controls were positive for HPV (p = .4), EBV was absent in all controls (0/16, 0%) (p = .01). In addition, we did not find the co-presence of the oncoviruses in the controls (p > .05). Nevertheless, further investigations are essential to understand the underlying mechanisms of multiple-oncogenic viruses’ interaction in breast carcinogenesis, especially TNBC.

Description T cell–derived IFNγ and CD40L/IL-21R signals are crucial for the differentiation of human T-bethighCD21low B cells. The factors behind autoimmune B cells T-bethighCD21low B cells are expanded in various autoimmune disorders and infections, but it is unclear how these cells develop. Determining essential factors related to T-bethighCD21low B cell development might allow for the therapeutic inhibition of these cells and the amelioration of autoimmunity. Here, Keller et al. used RNAseq, ATACseq, and flow cytometry of T-bethighCD21low B cells and ex vivo cell culture of CD21posB cells from healthy donors to identify the factors and cells that contribute to the establishment of T-bethighCD21low B cells. Samples from patients with monogenic immunodeficiencies corroborated that the combination of the B cell receptor and T cell–derived CD40 ligand, IL-21, and IFNγ signals to control differentiation of T-bethighCD21low B cells. These developmental pathways point to potential therapeutic targets for various autoimmune disease. Accumulation of human CD21low B cells in peripheral blood is a hallmark of chronic activation of the adaptive immune system in certain infections and autoimmune disorders. The molecular pathways underpinning the development, function, and fate of these CD21low B cells remain incompletely characterized. Here, combined transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility analyses supported a prominent role for the transcription factor T-bet in the transcriptional regulation of these T-bethighCD21low B cells. Investigating essential signals for generating these cells in vitro established that B cell receptor (BCR)/interferon-γ receptor (IFNγR) costimulation induced the highest levels of T-bet expression and enabled their differentiation during cell cultures with Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand or CD40L/interleukin-21 (IL-21) stimulation. Low proportions of CD21low B cells in peripheral blood from patients with defined inborn errors of immunity (IEI), because of mutations affecting canonical NF-κB, CD40, and IL-21 receptor or IL-12/IFNγ/IFNγ receptor/signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) signaling, substantiated the essential roles of BCR- and certain T cell–derived signals in the in vivo expansion of T-bethighCD21low B cells. Disturbed TLR signaling due to MyD88 or IRAK4 deficiency was not associated with reduced CD21low B cell proportions. The expansion of human T-bethighCD21low B cells correlated with an expansion of circulating T follicular helper 1 (cTfh1) and T peripheral helper (Tph) cells, identifying potential sources of CD40L, IL-21, and IFNγ signals. Thus, we identified important pathways to target autoreactive T-bethighCD21low B cells in human autoimmune conditions, where these cells are linked to pathogenesis and disease progression.

In this paper, we observe a practical real-life 2-sections heterogeneous microwave radio-relay (RR) network comprising classic SDH and SDH NGN architecture, hybrid parallel and mutually independent transmission of native-Ethernet and TDM services, as well as all-IP network part, to experimentally benchmark them with the former testing of a 5-sections RR system connecting the same endpoints, with the goal to verify the previous results. Specifically, the main task of the both works was to answer whether quite a diverse RR system could satisfy the quality norms for Ethernet based services, meaning whether a tolerable RR unavailability will necessarily imply the according Ethernet QoS degradation? This question is addressed by the comprehensive in-service and out-of-service testing of an operational hybrid RR transmission system under test. After the undertaken extensive practical testing and appropriate analysis of the achieved results, it came out that the impact of RR - level impairments that determine the performance prediction, affected the Ethernet QoS to the extent of BER approaching the acceptability threshold values defining (un) availability. High consistency of the new RR system test results was found with the previous results, which therefore verifies the appropriateness of this approach.

Optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) has long been and is still considered the main test tool for characterizing fiber optic links, i.e. basically identify and localize refractive and reflective events such as breaks, splices and connectors, and measure their insertion/return loss. Specifically, sufficient dynamic range and thus alike signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) enable clear far-end visibility even of long fiber links. Moreover, under such conditions, the highest achievable optical bit-error-rate (BER) floor, is to the large extent determined by major reflective events such as the specific trace distortion caused by connectors and splices, each with significant return loss. Realizing this has provided the opportunity window to extend the standard OTDR capabilities list by the appropriate trace postprocessing to predict the BER floor. Accordingly, considering the SNR high, and thereby the inter-symbol interference dominant error generating mechanism, we applied the time-dispersion channel model that determines the BER floor by the rms delay spread of the (fiber) channel power-delay profile. We verified the BER floor prediction in the exemplar practical test situation, by measuring the actual BER on the same fiber link, and found the obtained values well matching the OTDR - based predicted ones.

Despite the potentialities of the quantum mechanics (QM)/fluctuating charge (FQ) approach to model the spectral properties of solvated systems, its extensive use has been hampered by the lack of reliable parametrizations of solvents other than water. In this paper, we substantially extend the applicability of QM/FQ to solvating environments of different polarities and hydrogen-bonding capabilities. The reliability and robustness of the approach are demonstrated by challenging the model to simulate solvatochromic shifts of four organic chromophores, which display large shifts when dissolved in apolar, aprotic or polar, protic solvents.

Solar Particle Events (SPEs) generate cosmic radiation of different magnitude in a time span of several hours or even days. This contributes to an increased probability of higher magnitude Single-Event Upsets (SEUs) occurrence in space applications. It is critical to establish early detection of SEU rate or Soft Error Rate (SRE) changes to enable timely radiation hardening measures. This research paper focuses on the high-accuracy detection of SPEs using the manually collected space data. Additionally, the prediction of SRE increase or decrease was established with the seven widely used supervised machine learning algorithms. Excellent performance of 97.82%, including a high F1-score, was achieved during the presence of SPE using $k$-Nearest Neighbor algorithms.