Search Results (7)

Excessive nutrients from anthropogenic activities have caused eutrophication worldwide. While available assessment frameworks aid in selecting strategies to control nutrients, they often lack a holistic approach that considers social, ecological, and managerial categories to ensure long-term effectiveness for both point and non-point sources. This study addresses this gap by introducing a holistic sustainability framework with ten indicators derived from a literature review and stakeholder engagement. Quantitative and qualitative indicators were defined using either existing or newly designed methods. A weighted sum multi-criteria method was applied to calculate the total score for each strategy, considering indicator levels and weightings. The framework was applied to a case study in Hendry County, Florida, to demonstrate its applicability by assessing ten strategies. The same top-ranked strategy, alum treatment, was identified through this framework after applying 100 weighting scenarios. This demonstrates the robustness of strategy selection using the developed framework. This framework can be applied with limited data by prioritizing inputs related to five major contributors, effective cost, nutrient loading reduction, technology readiness level, benefit and direct impact, and labor operation and maintenance requirement, to the total score. These major indicators highlight the importance of considering social–ecological and managerial categories in addition to technological, environmental, and economic aspects in sustainability assessment of nutrient management strategies. Full article

Tduration of persistent protection after vaccination against COVID-19 is the sum of many factors, including the used formulation, the vaccination schedule, individual predisposition, clinical status and the SARS-CoV-2 variant. (There is a tendency that?) vaccination regimens demonstrate lower levels of immunity against the currently predominant Omicron variant, which results in the need for subsequent booster doses. Thus, bivalent formulations have been recently developed to additionally target the Omicron variant. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to assess whether bivalent vaccines would increase interest in vaccination among Poles. For this purpose, an original questionnaire distributed via the Internet and targeting Poles over the age of 18 was used. Results: The survey included 594 respondents, the vast majority of whom were women (79.3%), residents of large cities (44.7%) and those with a university education (86.3%). The average age was 36.6 ± 9.67 years. Only 48.7% of respondents had heard of bivalent vaccination against COVID-19. 408 (72.3%) respondents confirmed that if they had the choice, they would opt for the bivalent preparation. People who have already taken at least 1 booster dose are by far the most common group. Among the unvaccinated, the percentage is only 8.9%. For 190 (33.7%) of respondents, the availability of bivalent preparations will help accelerate their decision to vaccinate against COVID-19. Conclusions: Bivalent vaccination is an important part of the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is forecasted that its implementation will not contribute significantly to the increase in vaccination-related interest rate among those previously unvaccinated or only after the basic regimen. Therefore further observations in this direction are necessary. Full article

(1) Background: Increasing evidence shows that sedentary behaviors are associated with neuropsychiatric disorders (NPDs) and thus may be a modifiable factor to target for the prevention of NPDs. However, the direction and causality for the relationship remain unknown; sedentary behaviors could increase or decrease the risk of NPDs, and/or NPDs may increase or decrease engagement in sedentary behaviors. (2) Methods: This Mendelian randomization (MR) study with two samples included independent genetic variants related to sedentary behaviors (n = 408,815), Alzheimer’s disease (AD; n = 63,926), schizophrenia (SCZ; n = 105,318), and major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 500,199), which were extracted from several of the largest non-overlapping genome-wide association studies (GWASs), as instrumental variables. The summarized MR effect sizes from each instrumental variable were combined in an IVW (inverse-variance-weighted) approach, with various approaches (e.g., MR-Egger, weighted median, MR-pleiotropy residual sum and outlier), and sensitivity analyses were performed to identify and remove outliers and assess the horizontal pleiotropy. (3) Results: The MR evidence and linkage disequilibrium score regression revealed a consistent directional association between television watching and MDD (odds ratio (OR), 1.13 for MDD per one standard deviation (SD) increase in mean television watching time; 95% CI, 1.06–1.20; p = 6.80 × 10⁻⁵) and a consistent relationship between computer use and a decrease in the risk of AD (OR, 0.52 for AD per one SD increase in mean computer use time; 95% CI, 0.32–0.84; p = 8.20 × 10⁻³). In the reverse direction, MR showed a causal association between a reduced risk of SCZ and an increase in driving time (β, −0.016; 95% CI, −0.027–−0.004; p = 8.30 × 10⁻³). (4) Conclusions: Using genetic instrumental variables identified from large-scale GWASs, we found robust evidence for a causal relationship between long computer use time and a reduced risk of AD, and for a causal relationship between long television watching time and an increased risk of MDD. In reverse analyses, we found that SCZ was causally associated with reduced driving time. These findings fit in with our observations and prior knowledge as well as emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between different domains of sedentary behaviors in epidemiologic studies of NPDs. Full article

Optimum mechanical behavior is achieved by means of controlling microstructural anisotropy. The latter is directly related to the crystallographic texture and is considerably affected by thermal and mechanical processes. Therefore, understanding the underlying mechanisms relating to its evolution during thermomechanical processing is of major importance. Towards that direction, an attempt to identify possible correlations among significant microstructural parameters relating to texture response during deformation was made. For this purpose, a 3104 aluminum alloy sheet sample (0.5 mm) was examined in the following states: (a) cold rolled (with 90% reduction), (b) recovered and (c) fully recrystallized. Texture, anisotropy as well as the mechanical properties of the samples from each condition were examined. Afterwards, samples were subjected to uniaxial loading (tensile testing) while the most deformed yet representative areas near the fractured surfaces were selected for further texture analysis. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) scans and respective measurements were conducted in all three tensile test directions (0°, 45° and 90° towards rolling direction (RD)) by means of which the evolution of the texture components, their correlation with the three selected directions as well as the resulting anisotropy were highlighted. In the case of the cold-rolled and the recovered sample, the total count of S2 and S3 components did not change prior to and after tensile testing at 0° towards RD; however, the S2 and S3 sum mostly consisted of S3 components after tensile testing whereas it mostly consisted of S2 components prior to tensile testing. In addition, the aforementioned state was accompanied by a strong brass component. The preservation of an increased amount of S components, and the presence of strain-free elongated grains along with the coexistence of a complex and resistant-to-crack-propagation substructure consisting of both high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) and subgrain boundaries (SGBs) led into an optimal combination of Δr and r_m parameters. Full article

We derive an entropic uncertainty relation for generalized positive-operator-valued measure (POVM) measurements via a direct-sum majorization relation using Schur concavity of entropic quantities in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. Our approach provides a significant improvement of the uncertainty bound compared with previous majorization-based approaches (Friendland, S.; Gheorghiu, V.; Gour, G. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2013, 111, 230401; Rastegin, A.E.; Życzkowski, K. J. Phys. A, 2016, 49, 355301), particularly by extending the direct-sum majorization relation first introduced in (Rudnicki, Ł.; Puchała, Z.; Życzkowski, K. Phys. Rev. A 2014, 89, 052115). We illustrate the usefulness of our uncertainty relations by considering a pair of qubit observables in a two-dimensional system and randomly chosen unsharp observables in a three-dimensional system. We also demonstrate that our bound tends to be stronger than the generalized Maassen–Uffink bound with an increase in the unsharpness effect. Furthermore, we extend our approach to the case of multiple POVM measurements, thus making it possible to establish entropic uncertainty relations involving more than two observables. Full article

Advance directives (AD) can be used for the communication of healthcare decisions that may be required in the future when individuals have lost their capacity to make such decisions. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence, perception, and predictors of AD completion in the Hong Kong general population with a diverse culture. Through random-digit dialing, a population-based telephone survey was conducted with participants aged 18 or above. Socio-demographic characteristics, self-perception and health status, prevalence of AD, and perceptions related to AD were assessed. The acceptance on completing AD was measured by the summed score on the level of agreement in making AD. In total, 2002 participants completed the survey, with only 0.5% having made AD. However, the majority of those who had heard about AD had made or intended to make AD (80.2%). Multivariable regression analysis showed that being religious, being optimistic, and agreeing to respect patients’ wishes are independently associated with higher AD acceptance. Being a student is associated with lower AD acceptance. The extremely low completion rate of AD, but high acceptance of AD urges for more active promotion of AD to the public and education on end-of-life care among university students. Full article

Anthocyanins from red cabbage are of great importance for their applications in the food industry as natural colorants and their beneficial effects on human wellness as natural antioxidants. This study aimed to develop an effective method for the isolation of anthocyanins with the help of a combination of alternate recycling and direct recycling preparative liquid chromatography. Ten major components of anthocyanins from red cabbage were isolated and their structures were identified by HPLC-MS/MS. Meanwhile, the stability of the isolated anthocyanins under various light conditions was also investigated so as to provide data for their storage. In sum, the results showed that twin column recycling preparative chromatography is an effective method for the isolation of anthocyanin monomers with similar structures. Besides, the stability of various anthocyanins from red cabbage was related to the number of acylated groups and mainly affected by illumination. Full article