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When the samples were heated at higher temperatures (i.e., 230 °C), H2 production increased up to 55 vol% during catalyzed n-C7 asphaltene and resin conversion, indicating an increase of up to 70% in comparison with the non-catalyzed systems at the same temperature conditions.Mobile robots are endeavoring toward full autonomy. To that end, wheeled mobile robots have to function under non-holonomic constraints and uncertainty derived by feedback sensors and/or internal dynamics. Speed control is one of the main and challenging objectives in the endeavor for efficient autonomous collision-free navigation. This paper proposes an intelligent technique for speed control of a wheeled mobile robot using a combination of fuzzy logic and supervised machine learning (SML). The technique is appropriate for flexible leader-follower formation control on straight paths where a follower robot maintains a safely varying distance from a leader robot. A fuzzy controller specifies the ultimate distance of the follower to the leader using the measurements obtained from two ultrasonic sensors. An SML algorithm estimates a proper speed for the follower based on the ultimate distance. Simulations demonstrated that the proposed technique appropriately adjusts the follower robot's speed to maintain a flexible formation with the leader robot.Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) have been attracting considerable attention owing to their unique capabilities of manipulating light. However, the intractable dispersion and high loss are two major obstacles for attaining high-performance plasmonic devices. Here, a graphene nanoribbon gap waveguide (GNRGW) is proposed for guiding dispersionless gap SPPs (GSPPs) with deep-subwavelength confinement and low loss. An analytical model is developed to analyze the GSPPs, in which a reflection phase shift is employed to successfully deal with the influence caused by the boundaries of the graphene nanoribbon (GNR). It is demonstrated that a pulse with a 4 μm bandwidth and a 10 nm mode width can propagate in the linear passive system without waveform distortion, which is very robust against the shape change of the GNR. The decrease in the pulse amplitude is only 10% for a propagation distance of 1 μm. Furthermore, an array consisting of several GNRGWs is employed as a multichannel optical switch. When the separation is larger than 40 nm, each channel can be controlled independently by tuning the chemical potential of the corresponding GNR. The proposed GNRGW may raise great interest in studying dispersionless and low-loss nanophotonic devices, with potential applications in the distortionless transmission of nanoscale signals, electro-optic nanocircuits, and high-density on-chip communications.

High rates of amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMC) resistance among Enterobacterales isolated from urinary tract infections (UTIs) were observed in our area. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with AMC resistance in patients with community-onset UTI in emergency departments (EDs).

A retrospective study was performed of all ED patients with positive urine cultures for

or

in a Spanish tertiary-care hospital.

330 urine cultures in all were included 261 (79.1%) for

and 69 (20.90%) for

Rates of AMC resistance were 14.94% and 34.78%, respectively. UTI was clinically confirmed in 212 (64.24%) cases. Previous antimicrobial exposure was independently associated with AMC resistance development in

and

urinary isolates (OR = 2.94, 95% CI = 1.55-5.58). Analyses of infected patients revealed that previous exposure to fluoroquinolones (OR = 3.33, 95% CI = 1.10-10.12,

= 0.034) and to AMC (OR = 5.68, 95% CI = 1.97-16.44,

= 0.001) was significantly associated with isolation of AMC-resistant strains.

Prior antibiotic exposure, particularly to AMC or fluoroquinolones, was the only independent risk factor associated with development of AMC resistance in

and

urinary isolates from patients attending the ED.

Prior antibiotic exposure, particularly to AMC or fluoroquinolones, was the only independent risk factor associated with development of AMC resistance in E. coli and K. pneumoniae urinary isolates from patients attending the ED.Catalytic [6π + 2π]-cycloaddition of N-carbocholesteroxyazepine with functionally substituted terminal alkynes and 1,4-butynediol was performed for the first time under the action of the Co(acac)2(dppe)/Zn/ZnI2 three-component catalytic system. The reaction gave previously undescribed but promising 9-azabicyclo[4.2.1]nona-2,4,7-trienes (in 79-95% yields), covalently bound to a natural metabolite, cholesterol. The structure of the synthesized azabicycles was confirmed by analysis of one- and two-dimensional (1H, 13C, DEPT 13C, COSY, NOESY, HSQC, HMBC) NMR spectra.The rapid, unexpected, and large-scale expansion of the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic has led to a global health and economy crisis. However, although the crisis itself is a worldwide phenomenon, there have been considerable differences between respective countries in terms of SARS-CoV-19 morbidities and fatalities as well as the GDP impact. Nor-NOHA in vitro The object of this paper was to study the influence of the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic on global gross domestic product. We analyzed data relating to 176 countries in the 11-month period from February 2020 to December 2020. We employed SARS-CoV-19 morbidity and fatality rates reported by different countries as proxies for the development of the pandemic. The analysis employed in our study was based on moving median and quartiles, Kendall tau-b coefficients, and multi-segment piecewise-linear approximation with Theil-Sen trend lines. In the study, we empirically confirmed and measured the negative impact of the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic on the respective national economies. The relationship between the pandemic and the economy is not uniform and depends on the extent of the pandemic's development. The more intense the pandemic, the more adaptive the economies of specific countries become.The prediction of leaf wetness duration (LWD) is an issue of interest for disease prevention in coffee plantations, forests, and other crops. This study analyzed different LWD prediction approaches using machine learning and meteorological and temporal variables as the models' input. The information was collected through meteorological stations placed in coffee plantations in six different regions of Costa Rica, and the leaf wetness duration was measured by sensors installed in the same regions. The best prediction models had a mean absolute error of around 60 min per day. Our results demonstrate that for LWD modeling, it is not convenient to aggregate records at a daily level. The model performance was better when the records were collected at intervals of 15 min instead of 30 min.In this study, the performances of silver-impregnated adsorbents prepared from different host supports (SBA-15, alumina, ceria, and faujasite Y zeolite) and calcined or not at 500 °C (1 h) were compared for the capture of I2 and CH3I. By keeping the silver content rather similar (about 15-17 wt %) among the sorbents, it was possible to assess the effect of silver dispersion and speciation on the adsorption capacities measured for both adsorbates. In a first part, several characterization techniques (XRD, DRS-UV-Vis, TEM, etc.) were used to probe the state of silver in the calcined and non-calcined materials. It was found that the characteristics of silver species are strongly influenced by the thermal treatment, the presence or absence of exchange sites, and the stability of the supports. Silver agglomeration was enhanced after calcination at 500 °C especially for supports bearing no exchange sites (SBA-15) or no ordered pores (alumina and ceria). Then, the adsorption performances of the studied silver sorbents were discussed in relation with their physicochemical characteristics. After-test characterizations were useful to assess the proportion of silver species that have reacted with CH3I and I2 to yield AgI precipitates. Depending on the adsorbate, different trends were obtained. I2 adsorption/reaction with silver sites was found to be quantitative (I/Ag ≈1), whatever the silver speciation and dispersion on the support. By contrast, a high proportion of cationic silver species was found essential to increase CH3I adsorption (I/Ag about 0.6-0.7 against 0.2-0.3 for Ag agglomerated species).Various bi-directional associations exist between oral health and gastro-intestinal diseases. The oral microbiome plays a role in the gastro-intestinal carcinogenesis and fusobacteria are the most investigated bacteria involved. This paper aims to review the current knowledge and report the preliminary data on salivary levels of Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Candida albicans in subjects with different gastro-intestinal conditions or pathologies, in order to determine any differences. The null hypothesis was "subjects with different gastro-intestinal diseases do not show significant differences in the composition of the oral microbiota". Twenty-one subjects undergoing esophagastroduodenoscopy or colonscopy were recruited. For each subject, a salivary sample was collected before the endoscopy procedure, immediately stored at -20 °C and subsequently used for genomic bacterial DNA extraction by real-time PCR. Low levels of F. nucleatum and P. gingivalis were peculiar in the oral microbiota in subjects affected by Helicobater pylori-negative chronic gastritis without cancerization and future studies will elucidate this association. The level of C. albicans did not statistically differ among groups. This preliminary study could be used in the future, following further investigation, as a non-invasive method for the search of gastrointestinal diseases and associated markers.To meet the growing interest in natural antibacterial agents, we evaluated the physicochemical and biological properties of the folk medicine known as "five thieves' oil" (Polish name olejek pięciu złodziei). Five thieves' oil consists of a mixture of five oils rosemary, lemon, clove, eucalyptus, and cinnamon. In this study, we performed gas chromatography, FTIR, and UV-vis spectroscopic analysis, as well as L-a-b color tests, contact angle determination, and surface tension determination. To verify its antibacterial activity, the metabolic activity and changes in cell membrane permeability of bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas were studied. As a result, it was found that among the constituent oils, the oils of clove and cinnamon were the least volatile and, at the same time, had the strongest antibacterial activity. However, a mix of all the oils also showed comparable activity, which was even more pronounced for the oils after 4 weeks of aging. This effect can be linked to the high content of terpene derivatives such as eugenol and cinnamaldehyde, which can cause changes in bacterial membrane permeability, affecting cell activity and survival. This study is the first to characterize the constituents of the popular folk medicine five thieves' oil, confirming and explaining its strong antibacterial activity, thus constituting a significant contribution to contemporary health education.