Key Points Question Is the recent use of direct oral anticoagulants (confirmed ingestion within 48 hours) associated with increased risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage following intravenous thrombolysis for ischemic stroke? Findings In this cohort study including 33 207 patients with ischemic stroke who received intravenous thrombolysis at 64 centers in Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage was lower among the 832 patients taking direct oral anticoagulant treatment compared with controls with no anticoagulation. This result was consistent among subgroups and different selection strategies. Meaning This study found insufficient evidence of excess harm associated with the use of off-label intravenous thrombolysis in selected patients who had taken a direct oral anticoagulant within the previous 48 hours.

The presence of plastic waste in large quantities in the environment is a major problem and therefore a challenge for many researchers to examine the most effective methods of their disposal. In this paper, the source of microplastic and its hazardous effect on human health and interactions of plastics with plants were studied. Due to the specific physical-chemical features of micro- and nano-plastics, they are ideal candidates for the adsorption of organic pollutants, pathogens and heavy metals. The uptake and accumulation of nanoplastics by plants, adsorption studies, and bioaccumulation are shown here. In addition, recent research on the interaction of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics with plants has been discussed. Many studies have shown that the most affected part of the plant was the roots, followed by leaves, shoots, and then the stem. Nanoplastics are found to be more harmful than microplastics due to permeation through the biological membranes of plants, while microplastics adhere to leaves.

The Night Watch, painted in 1642 and on view in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, is considered Rembrandt's most famous work. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) mapping at multiple length scales revealed the unusual presence of lead(II) formate, Pb(HCOO)2, in several areas of the painting. Until now, this compound was never reported in historical oil paints. In order to get insights into this phenomenon, one possible chemical pathway was explored thanks to the preparation and micro-analysis of model oil paint media prepared by heating linseed oil and lead(II) oxide (PbO) drier as described in 17th century recipes. Synchrotron radiation based micro-XRPD (SR-µ-XRPD) and infrared microscopy were combined to identify and map at the micro-scale various neo-formed lead-based compounds in these model samples. Both lead(II) formate and lead(II) formate hydroxide Pb(HCOO)(OH) were detected and mapped, providing new clues regarding the reactivity of lead driers in oil matrices in historical paintings.

SUMMARY Maize, the most common energy feed ingredient in poultry diets, has a high starch proportion in the grain endosperm, ranging from 65 to 75% in various hybrids. The rate and extent of digestion are major determinants of maize starch nutritive value. Starch digestion follows the first-order kinetics, and according to the digestibility kinetics, starch can be divided into rapidly digestible (RDS), slowly digestible (SDS), and resistant starch (RS). Different intrinsic and extrinsic features of maize grain affect the rate and extent of starch digestibility. Differences in starch granule composition, such as amylose-to-amylopectin ratio, crystallisation, association with lipids and zeins, as well as shape, size and presence of surface pores affect starch digestibility kinetics. More so, an important factor affecting digestion is grain processing. Particle size affects feed intake, the passage of bolus and susceptibility to enzyme-starch binding, while hydrothermal processing leads to starch gelatinisation. However, too high temperatures can lead to RS formation. This review summarises the available literature data on factors identified as crucial in the digestibility kinetics of maize starch.

: The effect of emotions and personalisation on continuance use intentions in online health services is underexplored. Accordingly, we propose a research model for examining the impact of emotion- and personalisation-based factors on cancer website reuse intentions. We conducted a study using a real-world NGO cancer-support website, which was evaluated by 98 participants via an online questionnaire. Model relations were estimated using the PLS-SEM method. Our findings indicated that pre-use emotions did not significantly influence perceived personalisation. However, satisfaction with personalisation, and perceived usefulness mediated by satisfaction, increased reuse intentions. In addition, post-use positive emotions potentially influenced reuse intentions. Our paper, therefore, illustrates the applicability of theory regarding continuance use intentions to cancer-support websites and highlights the importance of personalisation for these purposes.

Abstract Global brachial plexus injury (GBPI) mainly affects adults and causes severe life-changing consequences that lead to the deterioration of patients’ quality of life. Several surgical approaches have been described and reported in the literature to improve patients’ functional ability. A literature review is done on PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase using specific keywords to retrieve relevant articles assessing different surgical approaches for GBPI management. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, and eligible articles were included in the review. The literature survey revealed that various surgical options had been used to manage GBPI patients. In this concise review, we discuss and compare the different surgical approaches related to GBPI and its outcome in terms of restoring elbow flexion and extension, shoulder abduction, and wrist and hand function. The primary surgical intervention relies mainly on transferring single or multiple nerves with/without nerve grafts to restore the function of the targeted muscle. Different techniques using a variety of nerve donors and recipients are compared to assess the functional outcomes of each option. Moreover, further options are addressed for delayed GBPI injuries or failed nerve transfer procedures, as in free functional muscle transfer techniques. In addition, information about brachial plexus injury cases faced in our center is presented along with our center’s approach to diagnosing and managing partial and GBPI cases.

: The paper presents the chemical composition of the fruits of three apple cultivars (Jonagold Decosta, Red Idared and Gala Schnitzer Schniga) fertilized with three treatment: T 1 (control‒without fertilization); T 2 (300 kg/ha NPK (6:18:36) + 150 kg/ha N (calcium ammonium nitrate‒CAN)) and T 3 (foliar nutrition-mixture organic-mineral fertilizer commercially named ‘FitoFert Kristal’ (0.6%) (10:40:10) + ‘FitoFert Kristal’ (0.6%) (20:20:20) + ‘FoliFetril Ca’ (0.5%) (N:Ca) in Bosnia and Herzegovina during two years (2020‒2021). Significant differences of contents of soluble solids, total sugars, inverted sugars, sucrose, total phenolic content, content of flavonoids and antioxidant activity were found among cultivar/treatment combinations, cultivars, treatments and years. Differences in total acids content among treatments and years were not statistically significant, but significant differences among cultivars and cultivar/treatment combinations were found. The contents of soluble solids, total sugars and sucrose were the highest in fruits of cultivar Jonagold Decosta, while the highest contents of inverted sugars, total acids, total phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant activity were found in fruits of Red Idared cultivar. The fertilization treatment T 2 significantly influenced the content of soluble solids, total sugars, inverted sugars, total acids, total phenolic, flavonoids and antioxidant activity in the apple fruits. According to the results obtained, we can say that fertilization treatment T 3 do not have much effect on bioactive ingredients, with the exception of the sucrose content. Among mineral elements, four were macroelements that were represented present in large amounts: potassium (K) (1266.15 mg kg –1 to 1652.89 mg kg –1 ), calcium (Ca) (122.76‒474.90 mg kg –1 ), phosphor (P) (86.14‒124.84 mg kg –1 ) and magnesium (Mg) (57.36‒70.68 mg kg –1 ). On the other hand, four microelements were determined: boron (B) (1.06‒14.25 mg kg –1 ); iron (Fe) (2.79‒4.62 mg kg –1 ); manganese (Mn) (0.27‒0.46 mg kg –1 ) and zinc (Zn) (0.15‒0.48 mg kg –1 ). Results showed that contents of macroelements and microelements have been strongly affected by cultivar/treatment combinations, cultivars, treatments and years.

Abstract Biotic stress caused by pests on citrus trees has become a major problem for ecologists around the world, hence the need to develop ecological approaches to surmount this stress. To evaluate the effectiveness of diverse control methods on the pest Panonychus citri and its predators, Euseius stipulatus, Phytoseiulus persimilis, and Typhlodromus sp. Different treatments were applied in orchards planted by Citrus clementina in the Gharb area of Morocco (T0 = treated by water only, T1 = spirodiclofen (the molecular formula is C21H24Cl2O4). 0.5 L/ha, T2 = 5% black soap 125 L/ha, Its ingredients are: argan oil, olive oil, black olive, salt, water, vegetable potash, without chemicals. T3 = mixture of two detergents; Oni product is composed of the following ingredients (sodium C12-13 parenth sulfate, and sodium C14-17 alkyl sec sulfonate) and Tide product with the following ingredients (sodium C10-16 alkylbenzene sulfonate, propylene glycol and sodium borate). Results obtained during the follow-up period showed that the black soap, spirodiclofen, and two detergent treatments provided a decrease in the P. citri population in comparison with plot treated by water during the whole monitoring period. We found 5,044 mobile forms of P. citri in the plot treated by water only, 1,544 forms in the plot treated with spirodiclofen, 3,002 forms in the plot treated with black soap, and 1,567 mobile forms in the plot treated with two detergents. This study demonstrated that all three treatments had a negative effect on the predators that survived in comparison to the control (T0), while the negative impact of spirodiclofen on beneficial phytoseiid mites was greater than that of black soap and detergents. However, the increase in temperature according to the follow-up weeks showed a significant effect on the evolution of the density of the studied mites. Unfortunately, the chemical products like spirodiclofen used against various citrus pests are considered toxic to phytoseiids and to the agro-ecosystem in general. This comparison aims to detect the effectiveness of black soap and mixtures of two detergents on P. citri and their impacts on its predators: E. stipulatus, P. persimilis, and Typhlodromus sp. to replace the use of pesticides by these alternative methods, which remain effective and environmentally friendly.

This article presents a novel circuit configuration of a high-voltage direct current circuit breaker (HVdcCB) test bench that is based on a modified H-bridge modular multilevel cascaded converter (MMCC). The modified MMCC is composed of fewer H-bridge cells, and it can be reconfigured during operation to allow the proposed test bench to output large current or high voltage for the current breaking and dielectric withstand tests. Although simultaneous output of large current and high voltage is not possible, the maximum transient interrupt voltage (TIV) withstand test can be performed with reduced ratings. The controllable output allows generation of complex waveforms to simulate a wide range of fault conditions. Furthermore, the modified MMCC has some inherent safety features that can reduce the need for additional protective equipment in case of operational failure of the HVdcCB. In contrast, the conventional charged capacitor and inductor-based designs cannot generate arbitrary waveforms, are only suitable for current breaking tests, and require additional circuits to generate initial conditions for the HVdcCB. AC short-circuit generator-based designs offer one degree of freedom for control of the output waveforms and can sustain the maximum TIV withstand test. However, the ac output is unsuitable for the dielectric withstand test, and additional circuits are required to provide initial conditions for the HVdcCB. The proposed test bench circuit configuration is verified using a downscaled experimental test bench that consists of a total of nine H-bridge cells with an equivalent switching frequency of 92.5 kHz.

Abstract:In order to address the research gaps on climate finance dynamics in developing countries, especially those with low governance scores, this study assesses the 2016–2020 bilateral climate finance to these countries. The total disbursed bilateral climate finance was US$1.3 billion (92 percent for mitigation, 7 percent for adaptation, and 1 percent for mitigation and adaptation simultaneously). Development-focused loans were the prevailing financial instrument cumulatively, and grants were the prevailing instrument on a per-country level. Japan was the biggest provider of bilateral climate finance (US$1 billion) to fund Uzbekistan's natural gas-fired electric power plants. All major bilateral climate finance providers ranked high on governance scores compared to the ten examined countries. Countries examined in this study will need to receive higher amounts of bilateral climate change finance in order to improve their readiness to address this issue and reduce their vulnerability to climate change impacts.