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Retraction notice to "Recovery of value-added products from biowaste: A review" [Bioresour. Technol. 360 (2022) 127565].
No full textThis article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of Elsevier's Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics team and an independent ethics advisor. A journal-wide investigation identified violations of the journal's policies on authorship and conflict of interest related to the submission and review of this paper. Review of this submission was handled by the then Editor-in-Chief (Ashok Pandey) despite an extensive record of collaboration, including co-publication, with four of the paper co-authors (Binod Parameswaran, Raveendran Sindhu, Mukesh Kumar Awasthi, Mohammad J. Taherzadeh). In addition, authorship changes were made during the revision of this paper; the authors Deepanraj Balakrishnan and M. Mofijur were added to the revised paper without validation or authorisation. There was a significant increase of citations of papers authored by the Editor-in-Chief between the original submission and the revised version. In summary, 3 papers by Pandey were cited in the original version of the paper. This increased to 10 papers in the revised version. Acceptance of the article was partly based upon the positive advice of a reviewer who was closely linked to one of the authors (Awasthi). This compromised the editorial process and breached the journal's policies. This investigation was carried out by Elsevier's Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics team, independent of the journal editorial board. The findings and recommendations have been confirmed by an independent ethics advisor. The authors disagree with the retraction and dispute the grounds for it
Technical, anthropometric and neuromuscular associations with ball release speed in elite and emerging female cricket fast-bowlers.
No full textINTRODUCTION: Fast bowlers play a critical role in cricket, with effective bowlers greatly contributing to team success. The rapid growth of women’s cricket means that research into performance is in its infancy however the available information suggests there may be anthropometrical, neuromuscular or technical differences between sexes. Using an exploratory research design this study explored these factors with respect to ball release speed in elite and emerging female fast-bowlers. METHODS: 3D motion analysis and ground reaction force assessment quantified the bowling action and ball release speed of 34 elite and pathways female fast-bowlers (17.6 ± 3.5 years). Anthropometry measures of height, mass, leg length and bowling arm length were assessed, as were neuromuscular measures of 20m sprint, countermovement jump (CMJ), isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) and unilateral sub-maximal stiffness. Correlation analyses were undertaken to identify associations between ball release speed and the measured variables.
RESULTS: Ball release speed exhibited associations with anthropometrical measures of stature (r=0.529), body mass (r=0.469) and mean leg length (r=0.576). Ball release speed was associated with front leg knee flexion at front foot contact (FFC) (r=-0.350) and horizontal and resultant ground reaction force at FFC (r=-0.511, r=0.687 respectively). Neuromuscular measures of CMJ power (r=0.443), IMTP peak (r=0.518) and net force (r=0.491), front (r=0.342) and back leg absolute stiffness (r=0.397), and back leg relative stiffness (r=0.397) all revealed associations with ball release speed.
CONCLUSION: The associations between ball release speed and strong, powerful and long legs may inform the methodologies of future studies. The current cohort revealed relationships between ball release speed and certain biomechanical measures at FFC, whereby less front knee flexion, higher levels of braking force and higher overall ground reaction force at FFC were associated with faster bowling speeds. Future research could focus on FFC during bowling given it’s apparent relevance. The general lack of associations between ball release speed and kinematic and kinetic factors at other parts of the bowling action may be due to the wide age range and physical maturation of the participants. Alternatively, data from discrete timepoints may not reflect the individualised nature of cricket bowling technique and there may be scope for other types of analysis such as functional data analysis to examine the entire action. The current findings provide insights into new relationships with ball release speed in female fast-bowlers that require validation by future confirmatory research
Nutrition and Women's Health Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals, and Integrative Strategies
No full textThis book aims to fill that gap, offering comprehensive insights into the benefits of nutraceuticals and functional foods for disease prevention, treatment, and recurrence through different phases of a woman's life.The book covers a wide ..
Female sex hormones and the oral contraceptive pill modulate asthma severity through GLUT-1.
Get PDFFemales are disproportionately affected by asthma. An increased understanding of how female sex hormones influence key pathophysiological processes that underpin asthma may identify new, more effective asthma therapies, particularly for females with severe, poorly controlled asthma. We assessed the effects of oral ethinylestradiol/levonorgestrel (representing OCP use) and depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) and estradiol injections on key features of experimental asthma, and determined their effects on glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1). The effects of OCP use on clinical asthma outcomes, and the relationships between estrogen receptors and type 2 (T2), non-T2, and GLUT-1 responses, in clinical asthma were also determined. OCP and DMPA reduce T2 responses, disease features, and lung expression of GLUT-1, whereas estradiol increases lung expression of GLUT-1, and results in severe, corticosteroid-insensitive, neutrophil-enriched disease, in experimental asthma. OCP use is associated with reduced T2 cytokine and GLUT-1 responses in clinical asthma. GLUT-1 expression is increased in sputum of severe asthmatics, and positively correlates with estrogen receptor expression and both T2 and non-T2 inflammatory responses. Significantly, OCP or GLUT-1 inhibition protects against obesity-associated or estradiol-induced, severe, experimental asthma, respectively. Together, these data show how female sex hormones and the OCP likely modulate asthma severity by modifying GLUT-1 responses in the airways
Two-scale concurrent topology optimization of multiple lattice materials with non-uniform thickness interfaces
Get PDFStructures composed of multiple lattice materials have exceptional mechanical properties due to their rationally designed macrostructures and microstructures, which have enabled diverse engineering applications. However, existing topology optimization approaches for such structures often face challenges in achieving generality and flexibility, particularly in designing the thickness of interfacial regions. Hence, this paper proposes a two-scale concurrent topology optimization method for designing multiple lattice materials with non-uniform thickness interfaces, including solid shell and interface lattice materials. The method improves the existing two-step filtering/projection approach by optimizing the length scale parameter of the Helmholtz-type partial differential equation filter to control interface thickness. Additional variables associated with the filtering process are introduced to optimize the filtering strength spatially, enabling density gradients that vary across different regions. This expands the feasible design space, enhancing the potential for superior optimization outcomes. Interfaces are represented using variables derived from the spatial density gradient and a projection approach, effectively capturing non-uniform thickness characteristics. A material interpolation scheme is incorporated into the two-scale framework to handle multiple lattice materials with solid shell and interface lattice material. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and versatility of the proposed method
Public participation: Success and failure
No full textThis is a definition of public participation: success and failure in the Thematic Encyclopedia of Regional Science. This thematic encyclopedia explores the multifaceted world of regional science, presenting a systematic and coherent overview of its central topics. It highlights the interdisciplinary nature of the field, examining the wide range of concepts, theories, methods, and models that shape spatial-oriented approaches to the social sciences. Contributions from expert scholars delve into key aspects of regional science, from urban poverty and natural resource management to smart cities and AI. Highly accessible entries cover the definition, history, theoretical background, and applications of each topic, as well as avenues for future research
Impacts On Everyday Activities Change With Breathlessness Duration: Exploratory Population Data.
No full textContemporary structures, processes, and outcomes of critical care nursing education: An integrative review.
No full textOBJECTIVE: The critical care workforce requires nurses who are specialised, educated, and adaptable to manage complex situations, with the capability to make informed decisions for optimal patient care. The Australian College of Critical Care Nurses supports evidence-based practice through an education position statement, which is periodically updated to reflect evolving needs. In this review, our aim was to inform revisions to the position statement on critical care nurse education by examining the structure, processes, and outcomes of contemporary education programs designed to enhance the capability of registered nurses working in critical care environments internationally. REVIEW METHOD USED: An integrative review was conducted using Whittemore and Knafl's framework. DATA RESOURCES: Data were collected from Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Ovid Medline, Embase, Emcare, Joanna Briggs Institute, and Google Scholar from January 2017 to the end of December 2024. REVIEW METHODS: Articles were included if they were peer reviewed, published in the English language, and focused on education programs for critical care nurses. Data extraction and quality appraisal were performed using appropriate tools. RESULTS: A total of 35 papers were included, revealing significant variations in the structure of critical care nursing education programs. Key facilitating processes were diverse delivery methods (online, face-to-face, and hybrid), structured curricula, and infrastructure (digital tools, human, and support systems). Positive outcomes included developing capability; improved patient outcomes; enhanced confidence, competence, and clinical performance; advanced communication skills; and leadership confidence to assume a decisional role. However, a lack of a standardised tiered education framework was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate significant variations in the structure of critical care nursing education programs, emphasising the need for a standardised tiered framework to ensure consistent theoretical underpinning and skill levels, leading to improved patient outcomes and the transferability of qualifications. The review advocates for technologically integrated, culturally safe, and flexible education programs that support the development of advanced practice critical care knowledge and capabilities. REGISTRATION: This review has been registered with the Open Science Framework Registry (10.17605/OSF.IO/9QYDH)
WaveletMamba: Wavelet-based state space model for low light image enhancement
No full textImages captured in low-light environments often suffer from poor visibility and substantial noise, which not only affects human perception but also hinders high-level visual tasks. Notable advancements have been made for Low Light Image Enhancement (LLIE) with deep learning methods based on convolutional neural networks, transformers, and diffusion models. Recently, State Space Models (SSM) have demonstrated impressive performance and gained increasing attention. However, existing LLIE methods predominantly extract features in the spatial domain, overlooking the frequency characteristics. Moreover, although current SSM enable efficient long-sequence processing, the vanilla scanning mechanism limits their ability to model global context effectively. To address these challenges, we propose a wavelet-based state space model named WaveletMamba for the LLIE task. Specifically, we utilize wavelet transformation to decompose the image into low-frequency components related to illumination and high-frequency components associated with details, manipulating these components in parallel. This approach leverages the frequency-domain property of the image to achieve more exclusive brightness enhancement without compromising high-frequency details. Furthermore, we propose an efficient mamba block, introducing a position-aware module to mitigate the structural losses caused by the scanning mechanism. By incorporating spatial information, the relationships between pixels are highlighted, thus improving the representational capacity of the network. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our WaveletMamba is favorable compared to state-of-the-art approaches with better efficiency and excellent performance
Three-dimensional analysis of foulant distribution in ultrafiltration membrane treating biogas slurry
Get PDFThis study investigated the formation and evolution of membrane fouling during the ultrafiltration (UF) concentration of chicken manure biogas slurry. The fouling layer was systematically investigated using spectroscopic and compositional analyses, along with three-dimensional (3D) structure characterization to elucidate underlying fouling mechanisms. Results revealed that membrane foulants adhered to the surface in a non-uniform fashion, leading initially to an anisotropic cake layer and rapid water flux decline exceeding 40% as water recovery reached 10%. UF membrane demonstrated effective rejection of humic acid and divalent cations (e.g., Ca and Mg) for nutrient enrichment, which in turn led to complex organic-inorganic fouling. Among organic foulants, high molecular weight humic acid showed the strongest membrane affinity, followed by protein, low molecular weight humic acid and polysaccharide-like substances. These organic foulants subsequently facilitated the co-deposition of inorganic salts, such as KCl, K2SO4 and KPO3, on membrane surface. As water recovery increased, Ca2+ and Mg2+ enhanced the cross-linking of organics foulants, resulting in the evolution of fouling layer structure from anisotropic to isotropic. Notably, the crystallization of potassium salts and enhanced interaction between K+ and dissolved organic matter exacerbated pore blockage. These findings underscore the critical roles of humic substances and potassium in membrane fouling to shed lights on their targeted control to improve the efficiency and lifespan of UF-based biogas slurry treatment systems
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