Levulinic acid (LA) is considered to be one of the promising organic bio-platform chemicals and intermediates for the synthesis of fuels, chemicals, and polymers. In the present study, heterogeneous catalytic dehydration of hexose sugars, fructose and glucose, using a strong cation exchange resin (hydrogen form) as an acid catalyst, was performed to produce LA in an aqueous medium. The effect of s

A large number of systemically administered drugs have the potential to cause drug-induced interstitial lung disease (DIILD). We aim to characterize a model of DIILD in the rat and develop imaging biomarkers (IBs) for detection and quantification of DIILD. In this study, Sprague–Dawley rats received one single dose of intratracheal (i.t.) bleomycin and were longitudinally imaged at day 0, 3, 7, 14

Environmental temperature is a key driver of variation in developmental physiological rates in reptiles. Cooler temperatures extend development time and can increase the amount of energy required to achieve hatching success, which can pose fitness consequences later in life. Yet, for locally-adapted populations, genetic variation can oppose environmental variation across ecological gradients, know

A novel strategy is presented for reliable diagnosis and progression prediction of diseases with special attention to COVID-19 pandemic. A plan is presented for how the model can be implemented worldwide in healthcare and how novel treatments and targets can be detected. The idea is based on poikilosis, pervasive heterogeneity, and variation at all levels, systems, and mechanisms. Poikilosis in di

Operant conditioning chambers are used to perform a wide range of behavioral tests in the field of neuroscience. The recorded data is typically based on the triggering of lever and nose-poke sensors present inside the chambers. While this provides a detailed view of when and how animals perform certain responses, it cannot be used to evaluate behaviors that do not trigger any sensors. As such, ass

Various less-toxic substitutes for the Pb2+-based perovskites have been proposed, of which Sn2+-based metal halide perovskites (namely, Sn-PVSKs) hold the best prospects because of their optoelectronic properties comparable to those of the Pb analogues. Nevertheless, the intrinsic instability and unfavorable crystallization of Sn-PVSKs place restrictions on both the device performance/durability a

Spin-orbit interaction and structure inversion asymmetry in combination with magnetic ordering is a promising route to novel materials with highly mobile spin-polarized carriers at the surface. Spin-resolved measurements of the photoemission current from the Si-terminated surface of the antiferromagnet TbRh2Si2 and their analysis within an ab initio one-step theory unveil an unusual triple winding

Iterative learning control (ILC) is an approach to improve the performance of a system that repeats the sameoperation. In this paper, we apply the theory of pseudospectra to transient analysis of ILC. The focus of thispaper is on frequency-domain analysis of filter-based ILC. Moreover, the effect of finite trial length on thetransient growth is discussed.

Imaging beta cells is a key step towards understanding islet transplantation. Although different imaging platforms for the recording of beta cell biology have been developed and utilized in vivo, they are limited in terms of allowing single cell resolution and continuous longitudinal recordings. Because of the transparency of the cornea, the anterior chamber of the eye (ACE) in mice is well suited

We show that the structured singular value of a real matrix with respect to five full complex uncertainty blocks equals its convex upper bound. This is done by formulating the equality conditions as a feasibility SDP and invoking a result on the existence of a low-rank solution. A counterexample is given for the case of six uncertainty blocks. Known results are also revisited using the proposed ap

BACKGROUND: Multiple patient and clinical characteristics contribute to the variable outcome of spinal anesthesia (SPA). Acute reduction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume may alter the effect of SPA. The objective of the present study was to test if aspiration of 10 mL CSF immediately prior to SPA is associated with higher extent of sensory block. METHODS: Interventional cohort study. One hundre

Preeclampsia is one of the most common causes of perinatal and maternal morbidity/ mortality. One suggested environmental risk factor is exposure to endocrine-disrupting pollutants such as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The present case-control study in southern Sweden aims to investigate the hypothesized association between serum concentrations of PFAS in early pregnancy and the risk

Background: Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction is a multifactorial disorder manifested as orthostatic hypotension (OH) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). OH has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood and explored.Aims and methods: Project I: We aimed to discover protein biomarkers related t

The luminescence properties of ScxY1-xPO4:Eu3+ solid solutions have been studied under excitation by synchrotron radiation in the energy range of 4.5-50 eV. The luminescence originating from three different types of emission centers was observed, and the origin of the emission centers was determined. The light output of ScxY1-xPO4:Eu3+ was shown to depend non-linearly on the ratio of Sc and Y cati

Data and literature related to water quality as well as nutrient loads were used to evaluate the Changjiang River (also Yangtze or Yangzi) Basin with respect to its hydrological regime, sediment transport, and eutrophication status. Waterbodies exhibited different eutrophic degrees following the ranking order of river < reservoir < lake. Most of the eutrophic lakes and reservoirs distributed in th

This article empirically analyses the relationship between nationalism and regional economic integration in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between the First and the Second World War. It argues that prevailing nationalism had a negative impact on the economic integration of the regions within the Kingdom and further contributed to the political disintegration of the Kingdom. The analysis implies that th

Precipitation phase determination is a known source of uncertainty in surface-based hydrological, ecological, safety, and climate models. This is primarily due to the surface precipitation phase being a result of cloud and atmospheric properties not measured at surface meteorological or hydrological stations. Adding to the uncertainty, many conceptual hydrological models use a 24-h average air tem

Regions with a large percentage of precipitation occurring near freezing experience high percentages (>10%) of misclassified precipitation events (rain versus snow) and necessitate efforts to improve precipitation phase determination schemes through the use of more accurate surface air temperature thresholds (Trs). Meteorological data from 169 sites in Scandinavia were used to test the applicabili

Both flood magnitude and frequency might change under the changing environment. In this study, a procedure combining statistical methods, flood frequency analysis and attribution analysis was proposed to investigate the response of floods to urbanization and precipitation change in the Qinhuai River Basin, an urbanized basin located in Southeast China, over the period from 1986 to 2013. The Mann–K