ABSTRACT We aimed to assess the cardiovascular responses and locomotory demands of male referees during diverse elite, international, basketball matches, and to investigate the influence of moderating factors (competition sex, level and stage) on these demands. Cardiovascular and locomotory responses were monitored in 123 elite, male referees while officiating 283 basketball sessions (preparation until match end), during group and playoff stages, of women’s and men’s FIBA Continental and World Cups at senior and youth level. The total and average session distance and velocity were ~4740 m, 19.0 m·min −1 and 2 km·h −1. Referees experienced an average relative HR of 60–65% maximum HR with ~85% of each session spent within the very light to moderate HR categories. The average session relative HR was significantly greater for men compared to women competition, during senior compared to youth sessions, and for the group compared to the playoff stage sessions. Mean distance covered was significantly greater during senior and men compared with youth and women sessions. Elite, international male basketball referees experienced moderate cardiovascular load accompanied with intermittent locomotor activities during international sessions when accounting for all occupational activities. International competitions are more demanding for referees based upon competition sex, level and stage.

This recent Turkish Myocardial Infarction registry reported that guidelines are largely implemented in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) in Turkey. We aimed to obtain up-to-date information for short- and midterm outcomes of acute MI. Fifty centers were selected using probability sampling, and all consecutive patients with acute MI admitted to these centers (between November 1 and 16, 2018) were enrolled. Among 1930 (mean age 62 ± 13 years, 26% female) patients, 1195 (62%) had non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and 735 (38%) had ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was performed in 94.4% of patients with STEMI and 60.2% of those with NSTEMI. Periprocedural mortality occurred in 4 (0.3%) patients. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in STEMI than in patients with NSTEMI (5.4% vs 2.9%, respectively; P = .006). However, the risk became slightly higher in the NSTEMI group at 1 year. Women with STEMI had a significantly higher in-hospital mortality compared with men (11.2% vs 3.8%; P < .001); this persisted at follow-up. In conclusion, PCI is performed in Turkey with a low risk of complications in patients with acute MI. Compared with a previous registry, in-hospital mortality decreased by 50% within 20 years; however, the risk remains too high for women with STEMI.

Chemical profile and antioxidant activity of the species Veronica saturejoides Vis. ssp. saturejoides (Plantaginaceae)—which is endemic to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro —were investigated. Volatile compounds produced by glandular trichomes (composed of one stalk cell and two elliptically formed head cells according to scanning electron microscope investigation) were isolated from the plants collected in two locations. Additionally, as a part of specialized metabolites, total polyphenols, total tannins, total flavonoids and total phenolic acids were determined spectrophotometrically. In the lipophilic volatile fractions-essential oils, the most abundant compounds identified were hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, caryophyllene oxide and hexadecanoic acid. In total, the class of oxygenated sesquiterpenes and the group of fatty aldehydes, acids and alcoholic compounds dominated in the essential oils. In the hydrophilic volatile fractions-hydrosols, the most abundant compounds identified were trans-p-mentha-1(7),8-dien-2-ol, allo-aromadendrene and (E)-caryophyllene. A group of oxygenated monoterpenes and the sesquiterpene hydrocarbons dominated in the hydrosols. Antioxidant activity of essential oils and hydrosols was tested with two methods: 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Essential oils showed higher antioxidant activity than hydrosols and showed similar antioxidant activity to Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil. Obtained results demonstrate that this genus is a potential source of volatiles with antioxidant activity.

The largest number of welded structures in operating conditions is exposed to variable loads, which is why the share of fatigue fracture in the failure of welded structures is higher than others. The essence of construction with fracture safety is that the structure can withstand the designed load in the designed time. If a crack is detected during operation, it is possible to predict the development of damage during the service life as well as the load-bearing capacity of the structure depending on the development of damage. The paper describes a new system for monitoring fatigue crack growth, which is based on the change in the resistance of the measuring foil during crack growth. The system is compatible with the basic settings of the ASTM E647–86 standard, which refers to the determination of the fatigue crack growth rate.

The ancient pigment Egyptian blue has long been studied for its historical significance; however, recent work has shown that its unique visible induced luminescent property can be used both to identify the pigment and to inspire new materials with this characteristic. In this study, a multi-modal characterization approach is used to explore variations in ancient production of Egyptian blue from shabti statuettes found in the village of Deir el-Medina in Egypt (Luxor, West Bank) dating back to the New Kingdom (18th-20th Dynasties; about 1550–1077 BCE). Using quantitative SEM-EDS analysis, we identify two possible production groups of the Egyptian blue and demonstrate the presence of multiple phases within samples using cluster analysis and ternary diagram representations. Using both macro-scale non-invasive (X-rays fluorescence and multi-spectral imaging) and micro-sampling (SEM-EDS and Raman confocal microspectroscopy) techniques, we correlate photoluminescence and chemical composition of the ancient samples. We introduce Raman spectroscopic imaging as a means to capture simultaneously visible-induced luminesce and crystal structure and utilize it to identify two classes of luminescing and non-luminescing silicate phases in the pigment that may be connected to production technologies. The results presented here provide a new framework through which Egyptian blue can be studied and inform the design of new materials based on its luminescent property.

Counting the number of objects that are transported on a conveyor belt is frequently encountered in production facilities, airports or post offices. Although most of these tasks may usually be solved by using common photoelectric or inductive sensors, there are cases when objects have to be counted using more complex sensing systems based on machine vision. In this paper, an image-processing algorithm for segmenting, detecting and counting rectangular objects which are being transported on a conveyor belt is presented. The method is specifically designed to detect rectangular objects that can be partly occluded. The application is implemented using OpenCV/C++ library. Two different test scenarios are analyzed in the paper. Experimental results suggest that the proposed method has promising accuracy and it is applicable in real-world applications.

Car gates can be found in many private and business facilities. Typically, gates are controlled by commercially available electronic systems that allow users to remotely operate them. Most of those systems are based on robust RF 315/433MHz transmitters for remote control. These communication modules suffer from limited range and allow the user to establish only simplex communication. Today, with the rapid growth of the Internet of Things, not only that every driver has an Internet-enabled smartphone, but most modern cars are equipped with such systems as well. This paper proposes a prototype of an electronic gate control structure that allows users, in addition to the common gate-panel and an RF-based remote, to control and supervise the gate using an Internet connection (e.g. with a smartphone). Both hardware and software parts that are required to operate the gate are designed, developed, and presented in this paper. Experimental tests on the small-scale model are conducted to point out the device's advantages and disadvantages and propose guidelines for future work and development.

This paper depicts a practical implementation of business model created by Centre for digital communications with customers of ALBA company and the framework of using cloud system in supporting that model. Software implementation includes Web and mobile applications for customers as well as control panel for software administration by company employees. The uniqueness of the implementation is reflected in the advanced geolocation services that include the generation of content according to the user needs based on the selected location of the city or settlements. The model also includes opportunities for further development with the use of IoT technologies to manage the waste disposal process.

Home installation is the shortest segment of FTTH (Fibre to The Home) networks. Despite this, it can also be a bottleneck of the whole network. This segment can produce a huge attenuation of optical signal. This paper deals with attenuation loss in home installations especially because of micro bending and attenuation of fusion splices caused by incompatibility of different fibre types.

The physical and mechanical properties of a polycrystalline material depend on its microstructure characteristics such as the size and morphology of grains. In practice, different imaging methods are used to visualize the grain structure of such materials. To analyze microstructural changes in case of applied stress and to predict its performance in a given application, the quantitative information about the grain structure must be taken into account. In this work, an effcient and reproducible algorithm, which automatically detects grains in different types of microstructure images, is proposed. Due to the diversity between the analyzed images and a limited number of labeled data, a clustering patch-based approach is followed. The algorithm aims to distinguish between patches in homogeneous grain areas and those lying on grain boundaries through Gaussian Mixture Modeling. The identified groups of grain patches are used to create the seed image for a Seeded Region Growing algorithm, enabling nally a pixelwise image segmentation.