Green Synthesis of Urea from Carbon Dioxide and Ammonia Catalyzed by Ultraporous Permanently Polarized Hydroxyapatite.

The sustainable synthesis of urea from ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) using ultraporous permanently polarized hydroxyapatite (upp-HAp) as catalyst has been explored as an advantageous CO2-revalorization strategy. As the simultaneous activation of N2 and CO2 (single-step) demands an increase of the reaction conditions, we have re-visited the industrial two-step Bazarov reaction. upp-HAp has been designed as a stable multifunctional catalyst capable of promoting both CO2 and NH3 adsorption for their subsequent C-N bond formation.

Effect of genetically predicted sclerostin on cardiovascular biomarkers, risk factors, and disease outcomes.

Sclerostin inhibitors protect against osteoporotic fractures, but their cardiovascular safety remains unclear. We conducted a cis-Mendelian randomisation analysis to estimate the causal effect of sclerostin levels on cardiovascular risk factors. We meta-analysed three GWAS of sclerostin levels including 49,568 Europeans and selected 2 SNPs to be used as instruments.

Effect of Action Video Games in Eye Movement Behavior: A Systematic Review.

Previous research shows that playing action video games seems to modify the behavior of eye movements such as eye fixations and saccades. The aim of the current work was to determine the effect of playing action video games on eye movements behavior such as fixations, saccades and pursuits. A systematic research review in PubMed and Scopus databases was conducted to identify articles published between 2010 and 2022 which referred to action video games and eye movements, including fixations, saccades and pursuits.

Urban background sounds under various weather conditions categorized for virtual acoustics.

One of the major problems in the auralization of complex urban scenarios is the creation of ambience, i.e. the diffuse background which represents the sound floor on which the acoustic scene of interest is created.

Mediterranean Diet Is a Predictor of Progression of Subclinical Atherosclerosis in a Mediterranean Population: The ILERVAS Prospective Cohort Study.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease remains a major health issue, often developing silently as subclinical atherosclerotic disease (SAD). The Mediterranean diet (MDiet) is known for its cardiovascular benefits, but the combined influence of both MDiet adherence and physical activity (PA) on SAD progression has not been previously documented. We aimed to investigate how adherence to a healthy lifestyle, defined as MDiet adherence and PA level, influences SAD progression in subjects from the ILERVAS cohort follow-up.

Enhancement of the Elastocaloric Performance of Natural Rubber by Forced Air Convection.

We study the enhancement of the elastocaloric effect in natural rubber by using forced air convection to favour heat extraction during the elongation stage of a stretching-unstretching cycle. Elastocaloric performance is quantified by means of the adiabatic undercooling that occurs after fast removal of the stress, measured by infrared thermography. To ensure accuracy, spatial averaging on thermal maps of the sample surface is performed since undercooled samples display heterogeneities caused by various factors.

Internet of Things Long-Range-Wide-Area-Network-Based Wireless Sensors Network for Underground Mine Monitoring: Planning an Efficient, Safe, and Sustainable Labor Environment.

Underground mines are considered one of the riskiest facilities for human activities due to numerous accidents and geotechnical failures recorded worldwide over the last century, which have resulted in unsafe labor conditions, poor health outcomes, injuries, and fatalities. One significant cause of these accidents is the inadequate or nonexistent capacity for the real-time monitoring of safety conditions in underground mines. In this context, new emerging technologies linked to the Industry 4.

A New Feasible Opportunity for Recycling Lead and Silver from Zinc Plant Residues by Flotation.

Millions of tons of zinc plant leach residues (ZPLR) have been stockpiled in Iranian hydrometallurgical zinc plants during the last few decades. Due to the low grades of zinc, lead, and silver in these residues, these residues have been abandoned without treatment. The authors of this paper studied zinc plant leach residues (ZPLR) to propose a flotation process for separating and producing lead and silver concentrate.

Hand-Washing Habits in a Sample of Spanish Soft Contact Lens Wearers.

Contact lens (CL) wear is a safe method for the correction of refractive errors. However, rare, severe ocular complications may occur which may lead to visual loss. As most of these complications are related to poor patient compliance with care and maintenance instructions, resulting in the contamination of hands, CLs and accessories, it was the purpose of this study to assess hand-washing habits in a sample of Spanish soft CL wearers.

Plasticity of 3D Hydrogels Predicts Cell Biological Behavior.

Under 3D culture conditions, cells tend to spread, migrate, and proliferate better in more viscoelastic and plastic hydrogels. Here, we present evidence that the improved cell behavior is facilitated by the lower steric hindrance of a more viscoelastic and plastic matrix with weaker intermolecular bonds. To determine intermolecular bond stability, we slowly insert semispherical tipped needles (100-700 μm diameter) into alginate dialdehyde-gelatin hydrogels and measure stiffness, yield strength, plasticity, and the force at which the surface ruptures (puncture force).

Estimation of Jacquard's genetic identity coefficients with bi-allelic variants by constrained least-squares.

The Jacquard genetic identity coefficients are of fundamental importance in relatedness research. We address the estimation of these coefficients as well as other relationship parameters that derive from them such as kinship and inbreeding coefficients using a concise matrix framework. Estimation of the Jacquard coefficients via likelihood methods and the expectation-maximization algorithm is computationally very demanding for large numbers of polymorphisms.

A Physical Framework to Study the Effect of Magnetic Fields on the Spike-Time Coding.

A temporal neural code reliant on the pattern of spike times rather than spike rates offers a feasible mechanism for encoding information from weak periodic external stimuli, such as static or extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields. Our model focuses on the influence of magnetic fields on neurotransmitter dynamics near the neuron membrane. Neurotransmitter binding to specific receptor sites on membrane proteins can regulate biochemical reactions.

Development of an automated artificial intelligence-based system for urogenital schistosomiasis diagnosis using digital image analysis techniques and a robotized microscope.

Background: Urogenital schistosomiasis is considered a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is estimated to affect 150 million people worldwide, with a high relevance in resource-poor settings of the African continent. The gold-standard diagnosis is still direct observation of Schistosoma haematobium eggs in urine samples by optical microscopy.

Thiocoumarin-based Au(I) Complexes and Au(0) Systems over TiO as Hybrid Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Generation under UV-Vis Light.

This work focuses on the photocatalytic production of hydrogen from the photodehydrogenation of ethanol using several gold(I) complexes and gold(0) systems over titanium dioxide (P90 TiO) as hybrid photocatalysts. The photocatalytic systems are composed of at least one coumarin-based ligand, which can enhance the photocatalytic activity by its photon-absorbing capacity due to its chromophore properties. The photocatalytic behavior for hydrogen generation of the studied samples is compared under UV-vis light setting the total gold-based co-catalyst loading at 1 wt% onto the TiO photocatalysts and when the gold content is maintained at 0.

Thermal equation of state of rhodium characterized by XRD in a resistively heated diamond anvil cell.

The high-pressure and high-temperature structural, mechanical, and dinamical stability of rhodium has been investigated via synchrotron X-ray diffraction using a resistively heated diamond anvil cell and density functional theory. The isothermal compression data have been fitted with a Rydberg-Vinet equation of state (EoS) with best-fitting parameters =55.046(16) Å , = 251(3) GPa, and = 5.

Effects of colour and scene dynamism on visual fatigue in animated films.

Animated films are highly popular in society, particularly among children and adolescents. During film production, selecting an adequate colour palette and scene dynamism is crucial for creating a visual impact on the audience. However, the influence of visual aesthetics, such as colour and scene dynamism on visual fatigue remains unexplored.

Graphlet-based hyperbolic embeddings capture evolutionary dynamics in genetic networks.

Motivation: Spatial Analysis of Functional Enrichment (SAFE) is a popular tool for biologists to investigate the functional organization of biological networks via highly intuitive 2D functional maps. To create these maps, SAFE uses Spring embedding to project a given network into a 2D space in which nodes connected in the network are near each other in space. However, many biological networks are scale-free, containing highly connected hub nodes.

A comprehensive molecular dynamics simulation of plastic and liquid succinonitrile: Structural, dynamic, and dielectric properties.

Molecular dynamics simulations at constant temperature and pressure were carried out to investigate the structural, dynamical, and dielectric properties of succinonitrile in its plastic and liquid phases at several thermodynamic states. A six-site united atom model was employed with a force field incorporating an intramolecular torsional term that accurately describes gauche and trans conformers. Analysis of the radial distribution function showed that succinonitrile adopts a body-centered cubic arrangement below its melting point, transitioning to a less ordered state in the liquid phase.

Crystal structure of the HMGA AT-hook 1 domain bound to the minor groove of AT-rich DNA and inhibition by antikinetoplastid drugs.

High mobility group (HMG) proteins are intrinsically disordered nuclear non-histone chromosomal proteins that play an essential role in many biological processes by regulating the expression of numerous genes in eukaryote cells. HMGA proteins contain three DNA binding motifs, the "AT-hooks", that bind preferentially to AT-rich sequences in the minor groove of B-form DNA. Understanding the interactions of AT-hook domains with DNA is very relevant from a medical point of view because HMGA proteins are involved in different conditions including cancer and parasitic diseases.

Assessing the detection of floating plastic litter with advanced remote sensing technologies in a hydrodynamic test facility.

Remote sensing technologies have the potential to support monitoring of floating plastic litter in aquatic environments. An experimental campaign was carried out in a large-scale hydrodynamic test facility to explore the detectability of floating plastics in ocean waves, comparing and contrasting different microwave and optical remote sensing technologies. The extensive experiments revealed that detection of plastics was feasible with microwave measurement techniques using X and Ku-bands with VV polarization at a plastic threshold concentration of 1 item/m or 1-10 g/m.

Graph neural networks for electroencephalogram analysis: Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy use cases.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely used as a non-invasive technique for the diagnosis of several brain disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. Until recently, diseases have been identified over EEG readings by human experts, which may not only be specific and difficult to find, but are also subject to human error. Despite the recent emergence of machine learning methods for the interpretation of EEGs, most approaches are not capable of capturing the underlying arbitrary non-Euclidean relations between signals in the different regions of the human brain.

Unraveling the Formation of Ternary AgCuSe Crystalline Nanophases and Their Potential as Antibacterial Agents.

AgCuSe nanoparticles could contribute to the growth of strongly light-absorbing thin films and solids with fast ion mobility, among other potential properties. Nevertheless, few methods have been developed so far for the synthesis of AgCuSe nanoparticles, and those reported deliver nanostructures with relatively large sizes and broad size and shape distributions. In this work, a colloidal cation exchange method is established for the easy synthesis of AgCuSe NPs with ca.