Search Results (1,722)

The growing complexity and interdependence of healthcare data, especially for chronic diseases such as asthma, demand innovative approaches for effective knowledge representation. This study introduces a general contextual ontology model for chronic diseases, extended specifically to asthma. Leveraging real-world datasets, the extended asthma ontology integrates key factors such as symptoms, triggers, treatments, and patient demographics, providing a comprehensive framework for disease management. The ontology was validated using intrinsic metrics such as classification, reusability, and completeness in healthcare applications. To validate the ontology, we used decision trees to extract rules after identifying the most relevant parameters needed to generate a Semantic Web Rule Language. These rules facilitate reasoning, validation, and decision-making within the ontology. The results highlight the potential of developing a general contextual ontology and extending it to address specific chronic diseases, such as asthma. We designed a general contextual ontology framework by integrating the extended ontology with artificial intelligence algorithms, identifying relevant parameters, and extracting rules to enhance knowledge representation and support clinical decision-making. This framework can be applied to other disease case studies. Full article

The specialization of public prosecution offices has been a growing international trend, particularly in addressing complex forms of crime such as corruption, economic crime, and organized crime. Many countries have established specialized prosecution bodies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement in these areas. However, Slovakia has recently taken a different approach by abolishing its Office of the Special Prosecution, a decision that contrasts sharply with prevailing global tendencies. This paper explores the reasons behind this shift, analyzing the political and legal arguments presented by both proponents and opponents of the abolition. The paper examines whether this move aligns with the rule of law and international legal obligations and considers its potential consequences for the effectiveness of criminal justice in Slovakia. While the paper is based on legal principles and comparative methods, it acknowledges the inherently political nature of decisions concerning the structure of prosecution services. Full article

Energy harvesting in the automotive sector is a rapidly growing field aimed at improving vehicle efficiency and sustainability by recovering wasted energy. Various technologies have been developed to convert mechanical, thermal, and environmental energy into electrical power, reducing dependency on traditional energy sources. This manuscript provides a comprehensive review of energy harvesting applications/methodologies, aiming to trace the research lines and future developments. This work identifies the main categories of harvesting solutions, namely mechanical, thermal, and hybrid/environmental solar–wind systems; each section includes a detailed review of the technical and scientific state of the art and a comparative analysis with detailed tables, allowing the state of the art to be mapped for identification of the strengths of each solution, as well as the challenges and future developments needed to enhance the technological level. These improvements focus on energy conversion efficiency, material innovation, vehicle integration, energy savings, and environmental sustainability. The mechanical harvesting section focuses on energy recovery from vehicle vibrations, with emphasis on regenerative suspensions and piezoelectric-based solutions. Specifically, solutions applied to suspensions with electric generators can achieve power outputs of around 1 kW, while piezoelectric-based suspension systems can generate up to tens of watts. The thermal harvesting section, instead, explores methods for converting waste heat from an internal combustion engine (ICE) into electrical power, including thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and organic Rankine cycle systems (ORC). Notably, ICEs with TEGs can recover above 1 kW of power, while ICE-based ORC systems can generate tens of watts. On the other hand, TEGs integrated into braking systems can harvest a few watts of power. Then, hybrid solutions are discussed, focusing on integrated mechanical and thermal energy recovery systems, as well as solar and wind energy harvesting. Hybrid solutions can achieve power outputs above 1 kW, with the main contribution from TEGs (≈1 kW), compared to piezoelectric systems (hundreds of W). Lastly, a section on commercial solutions highlights how current scientific research meets the automotive sector’s needs, providing significant insights for future development. For these reasons, the research results aim to be guidelines for a better understanding of where future studies should focus to improve the technological level and efficiency of energy harvesting solutions in the automotive sector. Full article

Water utilities use a significant amount of electrical energy due to the rising demand for wastewater treatment driven by environmental and economic reasons. The growing demand for energy, rising energy costs, and the drive toward achieving net-zero emissions require a sustainable energy future for the water industry. This can be achieved by integrating onsite renewable energy sources (RESs), energy storage, demand management, and participation in demand response (DR) programs. This paper analyzes the energy profile and load flexibility of water utilities using a data-driven approach to reduce energy costs by leveraging RESs for regional water utilities. It also assesses the potential for DR participation across different types of water utilities, considering peak-load shifting and battery storage installations. Given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, such as bushfires, heatwaves, droughts, and prolonged cold and wet season floods, regional water industries in Australia serve as a relevant case study of sectors already impacted by these challenges. First, the data characteristics across the water and energy components of regional water industries are analyzed. Next, barriers and challenges in data acquisition and processing in water industries are identified and recommendations are made for improving data coordination (interoperability) to enable the use of a single platform for identifying DR opportunities. Finally, the energy profile and load flexibility of regional water industries are examined to evaluate onsite generation and battery storage options for participating in DR operations. Operational data from four regional sites across two regional Australian water utilities are used in this study. Full article

Background/Objectives: Head and neck cancer is one of the most common cancers globally, with high mortality and significant treatment-related side effects. Conventional therapies, including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, have improved survival but often have serious consequences for patients’ quality of life. For this reason, there is growing interest in complementary therapies such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, cannabinoids, traditional Chinese medicine, and mind-body therapies. Methods: This review was conducted through a systematic analysis of the scientific literature available on PubMed and Scopus, selecting studies about the use of alternative therapies in patients with head and neck cancer according to strict criteria. Results: Acupuncture has shown benefits in the management of xerostomia and dysphagia, while some herbal medicines have shown potential anticancer effects, although with limitations related to bioavailability. Vitamins and antioxidants showed mixed results: some studies suggest a protective effect, while others report a possible increased risk of cancer progression. Cannabinoids are a controversial topic, with possible palliative benefits but also a higher risk of head and neck cancer. Traditional Chinese medicine and mind-body therapies, such as yoga, have shown positive effects on patients’ well-being, although their direct impact on cancer progression remains uncertain. Conclusions: Alternative therapies could be a useful support in managing symptoms and improving the quality of life patients with head and neck cancer. However, solid scientific evidence on their effectiveness and safety is still lacking. Rigorous clinical studies are needed to assess their therapeutic potential and define a safe integration into multidisciplinary cancer management. Full article

The growing demand for sustainable water management solutions has prompted the development of membrane brine concentration (MBC) technologies, particularly in the context of desalination and minimum liquid discharge (MLD) applications. This study presents a simple model of high-pressure nanofiltration (HPNF) for MBC. The model integrates reverse osmosis (RO) transport equations with mass balance equations, thereby enabling acceptable predictions of water flux and total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration. Considering the limitations of the pilot plant data, the model showed reasonable accuracy in predicting flux and TDS, with R² values above 0.99. The simulation results demonstrated that an increase in feed flow rate improves flux but raises specific energy consumption (SEC) and reduces recovery. In contrast, an increase in feed pressure results in an increased recovery and brine concentration. Increasing feed TDS decreases flux, recovery, and final brine TDS and increases SEC. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize process performance across multiple criteria, optimizing flux, SEC, recovery, and final brine concentration. The optimal feed flow rate and pressure vary depending on the criteria in the improvement scenarios, underscoring the importance of systematic process improvement. Full article

In recent years, innovative Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques, applicable for the assessment of existing civil structures, have become available for in situ analysis on Reinforced Concrete (RC) and masonry structures, but they are still not established for regular inspections, especially after seismic events. The damage assessment of RC buildings after seismic events is a very relevant issue in Italy, where most of the structures built in the last 50 years are RC structures. Furthermore, there is also a growing interest in being able to monitor structural health aspects by storing them on the building’s digital twin. For these reasons, it is necessary to develop an affordable and ready-to-use NDT procedure that provides more accurate indications on the real state of damage of reinforced concrete buildings after seismic events and to integrate these data into an interoperable digital twin for automated, optimized building performance monitoring, management, and preventive maintenance. To this end, a case study was conducted on a building in the Marche region in Italy, damaged by the 2016 earthquake. Non-destructive tests were performed and inserted into the LIS platform for the creation of a digital twin of the building. This platform seamlessly manages, visualizes, and analyzes the collected data and integrates various sensor nodes deployed throughout the building. The paper also presents a methodology to simplify the work of the test operator and make the entire process of knowledge of the building faster and more sustainable through a QR-code interface. Full article

The rate of nucleation of crystals is the subject of extensive research, since it—together with the nucleation time—determines the number of crystals growing; in turn, their number is related to their size. Experimental studies show that, for biomolecular crystals, despite the required unusually high supersaturations, the nucleation process is distinctly slow. This slowness arises from the inherent peculiarity of the nucleation of such crystals. Therefore, a prerequisite for management of the crystallization process towards the desired outcome is the molecular level understanding of the nucleation mechanism. In this paper, analyzing the mechanisms behind the nucleation process of protein crystals, it is argued that the highly inhomogeneous molecule surface is the main reason for the slow crystal nucleation: only a few small patches on their surface are capable of forming crystalline bonds. Therefore, the partner proteins must not only be brought to encounter one another but must also find each other’s binding site. In turn, this requirement imposes a severe steric restriction on the association of protein molecules, which, however, is alleviated by a rotational-diffusional reorientation. This is why particular attention is paid to this aspect of the protein crystal nucleation process. Full article

Humans are constantly exposed to low doses and low-dose rates of ionizing radiation from both natural and man-made sources. For this reason, there is a growing interest in studies on the biological effects of low-dose radiation. Vibrational spectroscopies, such as Fourier transform infrared and Raman micro-spectroscopies, have been fruitfully employed for studying the effects of high doses of ionizing radiation on biosystems. Aiming at clarifying the potential of the above-mentioned spectroscopic techniques to monitor the changes induced in cells, tissues, and other biological samples by low doses of ionizing radiations, we report a review of the literature in this research field. The analysis of published results suggests that vibrational spectroscopies make a valuable contribution. Additional and more systematic investigations could help to fully exploit the capabilities of these spectroscopic techniques. Full article

As the demand for interpretable machine learning approaches continues to grow, there is an increasing necessity for human involvement in providing informative explanations for model decisions. This is necessary for building trust and transparency in AI-based systems, leading to the emergence of the Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) field. Recently, a novel counterfactual explanation model, CELS, has been introduced. CELS learns a saliency map for the interests of an instance and generates a counterfactual explanation guided by the learned saliency map. While CELS represents the first attempt to exploit learned saliency maps not only to provide intuitive explanations for the reason behind the decision made by the time series classifier but also to explore post hoc counterfactual explanations, it exhibits limitations in terms of its high validity for the sake of ensuring high proximity and sparsity. In this paper, we present an enhanced approach that builds upon CELS. While the original model achieved promising results in terms of sparsity and proximity, it faced limitations in terms of validity. Our proposed method addresses this limitation by removing mask normalization to provide more informative and valid counterfactual explanations. Through extensive experimentation on datasets from various domains, we demonstrate that our approach outperforms the CELS model, achieving higher validity and producing more informative explanations. Full article

There has been a growing interest globally in vegan and vegetarian diets over the last decade for a combination of health, ethical, environmental, spiritual, and social reasons. In line with this popularity, research examining the role of plant-based food sources, including vegan and vegetarian diets, in supporting skeletal muscle remodeling and anabolism in humans has also received considerable attention. The emergence of the microbiota-gut–muscle axis, a bidirectional pathway where the gut microbiota impacts skeletal muscle and vice versa, has been suggested as a potential mediator of food and nutrition’s influence on the mechanistic processes that regulate muscle mass and function. Considering inherent nutritional differences between vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous diets related to the fiber and macronutrient content, presence of anti-nutritional factors, and diverse food and supplemental sources for obtaining protein, it stands to reason that the regulation of the microbiota–gut–muscle axis via diet-induced changes in gut microbiota composition and function may be dissimilar. However, whether this translates into differential effects on the skeletal muscle is unclear. This review article aims to provide a contemporary perspective for how variations in gut microbiota linked to vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous diets may be a potential mechanism for influencing protein metabolism in skeletal muscle mass via a purported microbiota-gut–muscle axis. Full article

Obesity is a global health crisis and is one of the major reasons for the rising prevalence of metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers. There has been growing interest in the search for natural molecules with potential anti-obesity effects; among the phytochemicals of interest are anthocyanins, which are flavonoid pigments present in many fruits and vegetables. Anthocyanins influence obesity via several signaling pathways. The PI3K/Akt signaling pathway plays a major role with a focus on downstream targets such as GLUT4, FOXO, GSK3β, and mTOR, which play a central role in the regulation of glucose metabolism, lipid storage, and adipogenesis. The influence of critical factors such as oxidative stress and inflammation also affect the pathophysiology of obesity. However, the studies reviewed have certain limitations, including variations in experimental models, bioavailability challenges, and a lack of extensive clinical validation. While anthocyanin shows tremendous potential, challenges such as poor bioavailability, stability, and regulatory matters must be overcome for successful functional food inclusion of anthocyanins. The future of anthocyanin-derived functional foods lies in their ability to overcome hurdles. Therefore, this review highlights the molecular mechanisms of obesity through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathways and explores how anthocyanins can modulate these signaling pathways to address obesity and related metabolic disorders. It also addresses some ways to solve the challenges, like bioavailability and stability, while emphasizing future possibilities for anthocyanin-based functional foods in obesity management. Full article

Background: Despite the growing use of remote patient monitoring (RPM) in diabetes management, few studies have assessed program enrollment and attrition. This study adopted a mixed-methods approach to examining factors linked to program enrollment and attrition amongst a large sample of patients who went through RPM in diabetes management. Methods: Based on quantitative data from the Remote Interventions Improving Specialty Complex Care program conducted in Nebraska from 2014 to 2018, chi-squared or t tests were used to compare three groups of patients with diabetes who had been contacted for program participation: those who completed the intervention, withdrew from the intervention, or declined to participate. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with program dropout. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted to assess patient feedback based on semi-structured interviews with patients from the three groups. Results: Out of the 1993 patients with diabetes invited for participation, 13% (n = 256) declined to participate, 16% (n = 317) withdrew before completion, and 71% (n = 1420) completed the intervention. Being younger or having poorer health (as indicated by higher blood glucose or blood pressure) at the baseline was associated with higher odds of program withdrawal. The top reason patients cited for declining participation or withdrawal from RPM was not having enough time to complete the intervention. Patients who declined to participate mentioned that an offer of incentives or more information at the beginning of the intervention may increase their motivation for participation. Conclusions: Being younger or having poorer health at the baseline was associated with higher odds of withdrawing from the RPM program. Future RPM programs can increase program retention by becoming more responsive to the health needs of vulnerable patients who struggle with managing their diabetes or related comorbidities at the baseline. Full article

Wood-based panels (WBPs) have versatile structural applications and are a suitable alternative to plastic panels and metallic materials. They have appropriate strength parameters that provide the required stiffness and strength for furniture products and construction applications. WBPs are usually processed by cutting, milling and drilling. Especially in the furniture industry, the accuracy of processing is crucial for aesthetic reasons. Ensuring the WBP surface’s high quality in the production cycle is associated with the appropriate selection of processing parameters and tools adapted to the specificity of the processed material (properties of wood, glue, type of resin and possible contamination). Therefore, expert assessment of the durability of WBPs is difficult. The interest in the automatic monitoring of cutting tools in sustainable production, according to the concept of Industry 4.0, is constantly growing. The use of flexible automation in the machining of WBPs is related to the provision of tools monitoring the state of tool wear and surface quality. Drilling is the most common machining process that prepares panels for assembly operations and directly affects the surface quality of holes and the aesthetic appearance of products. This paper aimed to synthesize research findings across Medium-Density Fiberboards (MDFs), particleboards and oriented strand boards (OSBs), highlighting the impact of processing parameters and identifying areas for future investigation. This article presents the research trend in the adoption of the new general methodological assumptions that allow one to define both the drill condition and delamination monitoring in the drilling of the most commonly used wood-based boards, i.e., particleboards, MDFs and OSBs. Full article

A pastor and academic theologian is invited to perform a devotional service at a marksmen’s festival in a small German village. Unaccustomed to this kind of festive culture, he also finds himself confronted with theological and ethical questions: Is it possible to provide a place of shooting with rifles and pistols with a prayer service and thus shape it liturgically as a place of God’s blessings? One could also ask: is it not necessary for theology to engage with communal forms of festivity, not just theoretically, but performatively, if Christianity itself is fundamentally festive? According to practical-theological reasoning, occasional services, i.e., celebrations of life rites, accompanying liminal situations and transitionary events of human life are growing in variety and importance and “new occasional services” are being developed. Also, the church and (public) theology continuously search and find their role in civil society. After all, there are many life situations in which God’s blessing should be clothed in a festive garment. But in which way is the marksmen’s festival to be considered? Two theologians explore these questions—autoethnographically and theoretically—and thus shed light on the marksmen’s festival as a theological topic. Full article