The aim of the present study is to explore differences in personality traits and emotion regulation of people suffering from GD, substance-dependent gamblers (SDGs), and healthy controls (HCs). Additionally, the study proposes a new experimental task: the “Gambling Affective Task” (GAT) to investigate the influence of affective priming on risk-taking behaviors. Results: Our findings indicate that participants placed lower bets following positive priming. Additionally, SDGs wagered significantly higher amounts than HCs, regardless of priming type. In general, participants exhibited longer response times after positive priming trials, compared to negative and neutral priming trials. These findings suggest that experiencing positive emotions can act as a protective factor by delaying and lengthening gambling behaviors. By comparing gamblers with and without substance comorbidity, we can gain insight into the exclusive factors of GD and improve our understanding of this disorder. Conclusions: By elucidating the impact of emotional states on risk-taking, the research also provides new insights into the prevention and treatment of GD. Full article

This narrative review aims to discuss the main interest in and cautions associated with the use of expired antibiotics in the context of repeated shortages, notably in Europe. Articles concerning the topic of expiry dates related to antibiotic use were reviewed using keywords in the PubMed^®/MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases to identify the most extensive evidence-based documentation. The present review evaluates the potential interest and efficacy of using expired drugs and their possible related adverse events. Overall, in the context of drug shortages, expiry dates could be safely extended for at least one year for most solid antibiotics (tablets or powder) used in daily clinical practice, as long as they are stored under the right conditions, in accordance with the summary of product characteristics. Full article

Background: Research studies have showed that maternal diet may influence fetal neurodevelopment, but most studies have only assessed single nutrients or food groups. Objective: To investigate the impact of maternal prenatal dietary patterns during pregnancy on child neurodevelopment. Methods: Study participants were obtained from the China National Birth Cohort. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition, was used to assess children’s neurodevelopment at 36 months old. Maternal antenatal dietary data were collected over three trimesters using food frequency questionnaires. Five distinct maternal dietary patterns throughout pregnancy were identified by principal component analysis, namely protein- and micronutrient-rich dietary patterns, low-iron dietary patterns, pasta as the staple food dietary patterns, iron-rich dietary patterns, tubers, fruits, and baked food dietary patterns. Group-based trajectory modeling was performed for dietary patterns present in all three periods. Multiple linear regression models were used for statistical analysis. Results: Children of mothers who followed a high protein- and micronutrient-rich dietary pattern trajectory during pregnancy presented better neurodevelopment, including higher gross motor and problem-solving scores. Furthermore, it was observed that children born of women with low-iron dietary patterns had poorer neurodevelopment. In detail, children born to mothers with a low-iron dietary pattern during the first trimester had lower problem-solving scores, while to those who were exposed to a low-iron dietary pattern in the second and third trimesters had lower gross motor scores. Additionally, children with mothers who had a low-iron dietary pattern in the third trimester had lower communication scores. Conclusions: A nutrition-balanced protein- and micronutrient-rich dietary pattern and adequate iron dietary pattern for mothers throughout pregnancy may be beneficial to children’s neurodevelopment. Full article

The capacity of untreated cotton stalk to remove and adsorb Cu²⁺ ions in synthetic and natural aqueous solutions was evaluated. The influence of three sensitive parameters of the adsorption process—solution pH, adsorbent dosage, and contact time—on the percentage of Cu²⁺ removal in agricultural wastewater, livestock wastewater, and synthetic samples was studied. Physicochemical and morphological properties were studied using thermogravimetry, Fourier infrared spectrophotometry, and scanning electron microscopy. The elemental composition, proximal composition, zero charge point, and acid–base sites were determined. In addition, kinetic studies were performed, and the adsorption equilibrium was analyzed. The optimum conditions for Cu²⁺ adsorption were the following: solution pH = 5.5, adsorbent dosage of 0.6 g, and contact time of 60 min. Under these conditions, the percentage of Cu²⁺ removal in synthetic samples was 66.5% when the initial copper concentration was 50 mg/L. The removal percentage in agricultural and livestock wastewater samples was 87.60% and 85.05%, respectively, when the initial copper concentration was 25 mg/L. The adsorption data are consistent with the Freundlich isotherm model, which achieved a quadratic fit of 0.991 compared to 0.5542 for the Langmuir model. The experimental results indicate that the adsorption adequately fits the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results suggest that cotton stalks are a promising adsorbent for the ecological and economical removal of Cu²⁺ in wastewater. This research, therefore, provides relevant information that contributes to the sustainable management of agricultural waste and instills hope for a reduction in water pollution from heavy metals derived from agricultural activities. Full article

The energy management system (EMS) of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is an algorithm that determines the power split between the electrical and thermal paths. It defines the operating state of the power sources, i.e., the electric motor (EM) and the internal combustion engine (ICE). It is therefore one of the main factors that can significantly influence the fuel consumption and performance of hybrid vehicles. In the transmission path, the power generated by the ICE is in part employed to accelerate the rotating components of the powertrain, such as the crankshaft, flywheel, gears, and shafts. The main inertial components are the crankshaft and the flywheel. This additional power is significant during high-intensity acceleration. Therefore, the actual engine operation is different from that required by the power split unit. This study focuses on exploring the influence of engine inertia on HEV fuel consumption by developing a controller based on an equivalent consumption minimisation strategy (ECMS) that considers crankshaft and flywheel inertia. The optimal solution obtained by the ECMS controller is refined by incorporating the inertia effect of the main rotating components of the engine into the cost function. This reduces the engine operation during high inertial torque transient phases, resulting in a decrease in vehicle CO${}_2$ emissions by 2.34, 2.22, and 1.13 g/km for the UDDS, US06, and WLTC driving cycles, respectively. Full article

NMR is widely considered the gold standard for organic compound structure determination. As such, NMR is routinely used in organic compound identification, drug metabolite characterization, natural product discovery, and the deconvolution of metabolite mixtures in biofluids (metabolomics and exposomics). In many cases, compound identification by NMR is achieved by matching measured NMR spectra to experimentally collected NMR spectral reference libraries. Unfortunately, the number of available experimental NMR reference spectra, especially for metabolomics, medical diagnostics, or drug-related studies, is quite small. This experimental gap could be filled by predicting NMR chemical shifts for known compounds using computational methods such as machine learning (ML). Here, we describe how a deep learning algorithm that is trained on a high-quality, “solvent-aware” experimental dataset can be used to predict ¹H chemical shifts more accurately than any other known method. The new program, called PROSPRE (PROton Shift PREdictor) can accurately (mean absolute error of <0.10 ppm) predict ¹H chemical shifts in water (at neutral pH), chloroform, dimethyl sulfoxide, and methanol from a user-submitted chemical structure. PROSPRE (pronounced “prosper”) has also been used to predict ¹H chemical shifts for >600,000 molecules in many popular metabolomic, drug, and natural product databases. Full article

Moving fast by high-speed planing craft (HSPC) is advantageous for some special missions, though it causes severe hull vibrations and shocks that can transfer to the human body and increase health and comfort risks. This study reviews the current safety standards to avoid human safety risks affected by whole-body vibrations (WBVs), as well as the safety status of HSPC occupants. In addition, the efficiency of motion-reduction devices (trim tab and interceptor) and shock/vibration-mitigation devices (shock-mitigation seat) in improving the safety of HSPC occupants is examined according to existing documents. The research methodology was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRIS-MA) method, and published papers in the Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were analyzed. Because most of these publications are academic research, issues of bias in the eligible publications were not of particular interest. During this systematic review, many gaps and challenges in current information on safety improvement devices were found that need to be addressed in future studies, such as a lack of information on motion-reduction devices and shock-mitigation seat performance in reducing lateral and fore-and-aft motions. Referring to these gaps and challenges can be valuable as a suggestion to improve current knowledge in research and reduce safety risks. Full article

Data mining technology is the process of extracting hidden knowledge and potentially useful information from a large number of incomplete, noisy, and random practical application data. The clustering algorithm based on multi-objective evolution has obvious advantages compared with the traditional single-objective method. In order to further improve the performance of evolutionary multi-objective clustering algorithms, this paper proposes a multi-objective automatic clustering model based on evolutionary multi-task optimization. Based on the multi-objective clustering algorithm that automatically determines the value of k, evolutionary multi-task optimization is introduced to deal with multiple clustering tasks simultaneously. A set of non-dominated solutions for clustering results is obtained by concurrently optimizing the overall deviation and connectivity index. Multi-task adjacency coding based on a locus adjacency graph was designed to encode the clustered data. Additionally, an evolutionary operator based on relevance learning was designed to facilitate the evolution of individuals within the population. It also facilitates information transfer between individuals with different tasks, effectively avoiding negative transfer. Finally, the proposed algorithm was applied to both artificial datasets and UCI datasets for testing. It was then compared with traditional clustering algorithms and other multi-objective clustering algorithms. The results verify the advantages of the proposed algorithm in clustering accuracy and algorithm convergence. Full article

This study builds upon existing research on institutional investors and corporate green innovation by distinguishing green investors, who prioritize environmental contribution, from general institutional investors. Drawing on the stakeholder theory and the Porter hypothesis, we hypothesize that the shareholdings of green investors can effectively stimulate corporate enthusiasm for green innovation, with state ownership exerting a positive moderating influence. Utilizing panel data from China’s A-share listed manufacturing firms spanning from 2010 to 2019, we employ a fixed effect regression model to test these hypotheses. Our empirical findings confirm our expectations, demonstrating that green investors’ shareholdings indeed foster corporate green innovation. Moreover, we observe that this positive relationship is amplified within state-owned enterprises, indicating the presence of a robust and stable environmental regulatory framework across the market. Additionally, our results support the Porter hypothesis, suggesting that adherence to environmental regulations can coexist with firm performance rather than being mutually exclusive. This study contributes to the literature on green investors and corporate green innovation, providing valuable insights for the development of China’s green financial system and sustainable development strategies. Full article

This study examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on labor investment efficiency utilizing a sample of China’s listed companies. The empirical results demonstrate that CSR improves labor investment efficiency, and the effect is significant in terms of both overinvestment and underinvestment. Findings from cross-sectional tests indicate that CSR has a more significant effect on labor investment efficiency in non-state-owned firms and firms with more financing constraints or higher labor adjustment costs. The conclusion is robust after utilizing a 2SLS regression, replacing indicators for labor investment efficiency and accounting for the impact of non-labor investment. In general, the results support stakeholder theory and confirm that CSR can enhance external monitoring and improve firms’ investment behavior. Full article

Glioblastoma multiforme, a highly aggressive and lethal brain tumor, is a substantial clinical challenge and a focus of increasing concern globally. Hematological toxicity and drug resistance of first-line drugs underscore the necessity for new anti-glioma drug development. Here, 43 anthracenyl skeleton compounds as p53 activator XI-011 analogs were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their cytotoxic effects. Five compounds (13d, 13e, 14a, 14b, and 14n) exhibited good anti-glioma activity against U87 cells, with IC₅₀ values lower than 2 μM. Notably, 13e showed the best anti-glioma activity, with an IC₅₀ value up to 0.53 μM, providing a promising lead compound for new anti-glioma drug development. Mechanistic analyses showed that 13e suppressed the MDM4 protein expression, upregulated the p53 protein level, and induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and apoptosis based on Western blot and flow cytometry assays. Full article

A significant change to the land cover in the Hula Valley was carried out during the 1950s: A swampy area densely covered by aquatic vegetation and the old shallow lake Hula were drained. The natural shallow lake and swamps land cover were converted into agricultural development land use in two stages: (1) Drainage that was accomplished in 1957; (2) Implementation of the renovated hydrological system structure, including the newly created shallow Lake Agmon-Hula (LAH), was completed in 2007. The long-term data record of the restored diversity of the submerged and emerged aquatic plant community, and its relation to water quality in the newly created shallow Lake Agmon-Hula LAH, was statistically evaluated. Internal interactions within the LAH ecosystem between aquatic plants and water quality, including nitrification, de-nitrification, sedimentation, photosynthetic intensity, and plant biomass and nutrient composition, were statistically evaluated. The plant community in LAH maintains a seasonal growth cycle of onset during late spring–summer and dieback accompanied by decomposed degradation during fall–early winter. The summer peak of aquatic plant biomass and consequent enhancement of photosynthetic intensity induces a pH increase during daytime and carbonate precipitation. Nevertheless, the ecosystem is aerobic and sulfate reduction and H₂S concentration are negligible. The Hula reclamation project (HP) is aimed at the improvement of eco-tourism’s integration into management design. The vegetation research confirms habitat enrichment. Full article

Based on the energy consumption data of the Changjiang River Administration of Navigation Affairs public building located in Wuhan, China, this paper analyzes the energy consumption characteristics of public buildings. Using the DesignBuilder energy simulation software (v7.0.0.096), various factors influencing building energy consumption are investigated. Furthermore, SPSS (v26.0.0.0) is employed to conduct correlation analyses between measured and simulated energy consumption data. The results indicate that the most significant factors affecting energy consumption are outdoor temperature, office equipment usage time, anticipated room temperature settings, boiler usage time, and per capita daily water consumption. By exploring the factors influencing energy consumption in public buildings, this study contributes novel insights into setting targets, adjusting schemes, and achieving energy-saving effects. Full article

The Setifian high-plains region, Northeast of Algeria, grapples with challenges in water resource management. As the water demand intensifies across a diverse range of sectors, assessing groundwater quality becomes indispensable. This article responds to the critical need for a thorough assessment of groundwater quality in the Wadi Boussellam sub-watershed. Employing a GIS-based method, we evaluate groundwater geochemistry by estimating the Water Quality Index (WQI), offering a comprehensive overview of water consumption. The analysis of groundwater samples reveals distinct facies, including calcic bicarbonate, calcic chloride, calcic sulfate, and magnesium sulfate, contributing to an enhanced understanding of the hydrochemical composition in the Setif region. Hydrochemical indices, specifically the WQI, Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), and Na% are applied to assess groundwater suitability for various applications. The results indicate that most crops are generally suitable for irrigation, though they advise exercising caution with regard to human consumption. This study underscores the significance of regular monitoring to avert groundwater contamination and ensure sustainable use in the Setif region, providing insights that emphasize the ongoing necessity for efforts in water resource management and the preservation of this vital resource’s quality. Full article

Delayed initiation of effective antifibrotic therapy in patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILD) may influence the progression and outcome of the disease. This study analyzes the differences in the journey of patients with ILD in the Brazilian and Mexican health systems. An evaluative study was conducted in reference centers for interstitial lung diseases in Brazil and Mexico with a panel of four specialists. The patient’s journey in both countries begins when the patient seeks medical care after observing a chronic respiratory symptom. In both countries, due to diagnostic complexity, these patients arrive at ILD referral centers at an advanced stage of the disease. Once diagnosis is established, the treatment onset differs between Mexico and Brazil. In Brazil, access to antifibrotic drugs through the public health system has been a significant challenge, and their cost makes them unaffordable for most people. This situation forces medical specialists to provide only supportive care to patients until these drugs can be accessed. In Mexico, antifibrotics have been available in health sectors since 2018. Brazil and Mexico have several similarities regarding the initial journey of the patient due to diagnosis difficulties. Still, the outcome tends to be different due to a difference in access to treatment with antifibrotics. For this reason, advancing health policies that ensure proper treatment for patients with ILD is crucial for the sustainability and reliability of the health system. Full article

Ultrasound is a highly adaptable medical imaging modality that offers several applications and a wide range of uses, both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The principles of sound wave propagation and reflection enable ultrasound imaging to function as a highly secure modality. This technique facilitates the production of real-time visual representations, thereby assisting in the evaluation of various medical conditions such as cardiac, gynecologic, and abdominal diseases, among others. The ultrasound modality encompasses a diverse range of modes and mechanisms that serve to enhance the methodology of pathology and physiology assessment. Doppler imaging and US elastography, in particular, are two such techniques that contribute to this expansion. Elastography-based imaging methods have attracted significant interest in recent years for the non-invasive evaluation of tissue mechanical characteristics. These techniques utilize the changes in soft tissue elasticity in various diseases to generate both qualitative and quantitative data for diagnostic purposes. Specialized imaging techniques collect data by identifying tissue stiffness under mechanical forces such as compression or shear waves. However, in this review paper, we provide a comprehensive examination of the fundamental concepts, underlying physics, and limitations associated with ultrasound elastography. Additionally, we present a concise overview of its present-day clinical utilization and ongoing advancements across many clinical domains. Full article

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) prediction of cities in Western China requires higher accuracy in quantitative demand and spatial layout because of complex challenges in balancing relationships between urban constructions and ecological developments. Considering city-level areas and various types of land use and land cover, existing LUCC models without constraint or with only loose demand constraints were impractical in providing evidence of high accuracy and high-resolution predictions in areas facing fierce land competition. In this study, we proposed a two-layer SD-ANN-CA model to simulate and explore the LUCC trend and layout predictions for 2018, 2028, and 2038 in Ya’an City, Western China. The two-layer structure with an upper layer of the SD model and a lower layer of the ANN-CA model, as well as the advantages of all three methods of system dynamics (SD), artificial neural network (ANN), and cellular automata (CA), have allowed us to consider the macro-level demand constraints, meso-level driving factors constraints, and the micro-level spatial constraints into a unified model framework. The simulation results of the year 2018 have shown significant improvement in the accuracy of the ANN-CA model constructed in our earlier work, especially in types of forest land (error-accuracy: 0.08%), grassland (error-accuracy: 0.23%), and construction land (error-accuracy: 0.18%). The layout predictions of all six types of land use in 2028 and 2038 are then carried out to provide visual evidence support, which may improve the efficiency of planning and policy-making processes. Our work may also provide insights into new ways to combine quantitative methods into spatial methods in constructing city-level or even regional-level LUCC models with high resolution. Full article

Icing is a common physical phenomenon, and the icing of wind turbine blades can significantly affect the performance of wind turbines. Therefore, researching methods to prevent icing is of great significance, and the coating method of anti-icing is an effective way to delay icing, with advantages such as low energy consumption and easy implementation. In this study, using the coating method as the background, tetradecane phase change microcapsules were prepared, with a melting enthalpy of 90.8 J/g and a crystallization enthalpy of 96.3 J/g, exhibiting good coverage and energy storage efficiency. After mixing tetradecane phase change microcapsules (PCMS) with polyurethane coating (PUR) and coating them on wind turbine blades, after a 5 min icing wind tunnel test, the coating could significantly delay the icing on the blade surface, with the highest anti-icing rate reaching 60.41%. This indicates that the coating has a good anti-icing effect and provides basic research data for exploring new anti-icing methods. Full article

This article provides an analysis of the enduring disagreements among bioethicists over the divide between secular and religious boundaries that are reflected in liberal, libertarian, and conservative approaches to medicine as a profession and vocation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the most authoritative voices to address the problem of suffering were Protestants, Strict Calvinists, hydropaths, and homeopaths. Other religious and medical groups had regularly confronted pain and suffering in the nineteenth century in light of the discovery and increasing use of anesthesia. Rationalizations for suffering were first and foremost indebted to strong beliefs about divine will and about the seemingly inevitable course of nature. Did physical pain reflect the wrongdoing of one individual or of an entire community? What was the appropriate way to respond to the natural circumstances of growth, decay, and healing? Such questions produced a varied rhetoric of suffering that emerged in new ways in the second half of the twentieth century. Questions and concerns about the ethical foundations of medical practice—what should and should not be permitted—illustrate the present cultural struggles. Full article

Global population growth requires the use of various natural resources to satisfy the basic needs of humanity. Fossil fuels are mainly used to produce electricity, transportation and the artificial air conditioning of habitats. Nevertheless, countries around the world are looking for alternative energy sources due to the decrease in the availability of these fuels and their high environmental impact. The mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (H₂ + CO), commonly called syngas, is a high-value feedstock for various industrial applications. By varying the composition of syngas, especially the H₂/CO molar ratio, it can be used to produce methanol, fuels or synthetic natural gas. However, when this ratio is very low, the separation of this gas usually represents a great problem when making the energy balance, which is why it is proposed to adapt a combustion process in chemical cycles, taking advantage of the energy of this gas, reducing the energy impact of the process. During the present project, mass and energy balances were developed for combustion in chemical cycles, using ilmenite as a carrier, integrating heat exchangers to take advantage of the residual energy at the output of the process, to preheat the inlet current in the regenerator. Here, a comparative was made at different temperatures of the air stream and evaluating the mechanism of the ilmenite when a syngas stream is used as fuel. Full article

CO₂ geosequestration is an important contributor to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, i.e., Climate Action, which states a global Net-Zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. A potential impact of CO₂ geosequestration in depleted oil and gas reservoirs is the variations in induced pressure across the caprocks, which can lead to significant local variations in CO₂ saturation. A detailed understanding of the relationship between the pressure gradient across the caprock and local CO₂ concentration is of utmost importance for assessing the potential of CO₂ geosequestration. Achieving this through experimental techniques is extremely difficult, and thus, we employ a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Method (FEM) based solver to mimic sub-critical CO₂ injection in Opalinus Clay under various pressure gradients across the sample. The geomechanical and multiphase flow modelling utilising Darcy Law helps evaluate local variations in CO₂ concentration in Opalinus Clay. Well-validated numerical results indicate favourable sub-critical CO₂ geosequestration under a positive pressure gradient across Opalinus Clay. In the absence of a positive pressure gradient, a peak CO₂ concentration of 5% has been recorded, which increases substantially (above 90%) as the pressure gradient across the sample increases. Full article

The concept of valuing personal and enterprise goodwill is a study in the art of quantifying subjective values. Sellers strive to maximize goodwill, while buyers strive to minimize goodwill. No persons are denying the existence of goodwill; rather, the debate is centered around the value of that goodwill. This paper seeks to define a holistic approach to fairly quantifying the value of goodwill for an engineering firm. The Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR), a decision tool grounded in game theory, is used to illustrate the inherent conflict around setting an accurate goodwill value and the inherent negotiation between buyers and sellers. Full article