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After the spread of the new Corona epidemic, the criminal act took another turn, as crimes such as road crimes declined and other crimes increased in return, the latter related to the conditions of the epidemic and the conditions of quarantine related to the closure of spaces and workplaces for a long time, which created a kind of hardship for the individual and repression Social and psychological, as well as widening the scope for some criminals to commit multiple crimes, especially the crime of exploitation resulting from the urgent need for medicines, drug alternatives, and masks, as well as crimes related to fraud, fraud, theft, vandalism, and other crimes.

The most hydrodynamic swimming position occurs with the head submerged, highlighting the benefit of reduced breathing frequency for efficiency. This study aimed to characterize and compare kinematics between two breaststroke breathing patterns—breathing every cycle and breathing every two cycles—while also analyzing intra-cyclic velocity variation (dv) and fractal dimension. In the breathing every cycle pattern, each cycle included a breath. In the breathing every cycle pattern, swimmers breathed once per cycle. In the breathing every two cycles pattern, breathing occurred every second cycle, resulting in three types of cycles: breathing, non-breathing, and the breathing cycle following a non-breathing cycle. To ensure familiarity with the new breathing pattern, swimmers underwent a six-week intervention program. They then performed three maximal 25 m bouts in each breathing pattern. Kinematic data were collected using a dual-media optoelectronic system (Qualisys AB, Sweden), integrating underwater and dry-land camera recordings. The results showed minimal differences between the three cycle types. The non-breathing cycle had the shallowest and deepest head positions, the lowest horizontal head amplitude out of water, and the smallest vertical head amplitude. It also had the fastest maximum vertical velocity of the feet and maximum center of mass velocity in the swimming direction.

Background: Transcription factors have been linked to changes in various physiological processes, such as attractive and rewarding phenotypes during plant–pollinator interactions. In the genus Petunia, most species are pollinated by bees, but hawkmoth- and bird pollination are also observed. Here, we aimed to test the hypothesis that species with the same pollination syndrome evolved through convergence, while differences in pollinators indicate divergence. We selected six genes (MYB-FL, DFR, EOBII, ODO1, BPBT, and NEC1) involved in establishing pollination syndromes to explore the potential role of cis-regulatory elements in shifts among pollination syndromes, attracting and rewarding pollinators. Methods: We retrieved the genomic sequences of genes from the genomes of four Petunia species, which exhibit distinct pollination syndromes. We analyzed the cis-regulatory elements, focusing on the structure and composition of motifs, and inferred the functions of these transcription factors using Gene Ontology analysis. Results: All sequences were highly conserved among species, with variations in promoter motif structure and TF binding sites. The evolutionary relationships among the genes closely reflected the species’ phylogeny. Likewise, regulatory elements and gene structure mostly followed the species’ evolutionary history. However, different pollination syndromes are present, and there is an unexpected lack of convergence between the two bee-pollinated species. Conclusions: Our findings showed that the most recent common ancestor of these species better predicts relationships among gene regulatory elements than does the pollination syndrome. To fully understand the evolution of pollination syndromes in Petunia, additional studies are needed to analyze entire pathways and compare genomes and transcriptomes.

We characterized the physical and physiological profiles of high-level female Portuguese handball players and examined the relationships between their anthropometric characteristics, general motor performance and cardiopulmonary fitness. Twenty-four high-level female handball players with an average age of 23.6 ± 5.5 years, height of 173.6 ± 5.1 cm and body mass of 72.6 ± 9.1 kg volunteered to participate. A Pearson correlation test was used to assess the relationship between variables. Direct relationships were observed between the players’ height and arm span (r = 0.741), as well as between their squat jump and countermovement jump performances with regard to body mass (r = 0.448 and 0.496, respectively). The 9 m jump shot has a large relationship with the 7 m standing throw (r = 0.786) and between left hand dynamometry and body mass index (r = 0.595). The 30 m sprint has a relationship with the 7 m standing throw (r = −0.526) and the 9 m jump throw (r = −0.551). Oxygen uptake has a relationship with the players’ height (r = −0.482) and time limit (r = 0.513), while the fitness index has a relation to the players’ height (r = −0.488) and arm span (r = −0.422). Our results should be considered when using physical testing to plan optimal physical training regimens in elite team handball.

Background Housing is considered a social determinant of health. In Catalonia and Spain, ensuring affordable housing is challenging and cooperative housing under a grant-of-use emerges as an alternative, challenging traditional housing models. This study aims to quantify its impact on health before and after moving to the cooperative house. Methods A longitudinal study of individuals in cooperative housing projects in Catalonia (July 2018-April 2023) was conducted. Data, including sociodemographic, housing information, and health-related details, were collected through baseline and follow-up surveys. Results Seventy participants (42 women, 28 men) showed positive changes in housing conditions during follow-up. Improved perceptions of health, mental health, and social support were observed. Despite limitations in sample size and short follow-up, initial findings suggest improvements in health. Conclusions Cooperative housing under a grant-of-use in Catalonia appears promising for improving health and living conditions. Further research is warranted to explore its full potential as an alternative amid housing challenges in the region.

Tailings disposal is a major concern of the mining industry worldwide. After the recent upstream dam failures, the main tailings disposal method studied in Brazil is dry stacking. The mechanical behaviour of tailings disposed of by dry stacking can be enhanced by ground improvement techniques such as compaction effort, cement, and fibre insertion. Accordingly, the study was carried out herein to analyse the mechanical behaviour of a fibre-reinforced cemented iron ore tailings (IOT) through unconfined compression tests in specimens moulded at different points on the compaction curve using 1%, 3% and 5% of Portland cement and zero and 0.5% of polypropylene fibres as an alternative to enhance the overall performance of dry tailings storage facilities. The results showed that compacted fibre-reinforced cemented IOT strength and stiffness vary according to the dry unit weight and moisture content moulding point on the standard Proctor compaction curve. In addition, adding fibres to the compacted cemented IOT turns the brittle behaviour into a ductile one, especially for 1% of cement. Such enhancement is fundamental to guarantee the safety of iron dry stacks. Also, failure patterns are directly related to the moulding point on the compaction curve. Moreover, adding fibres has increased the strength of cemented and uncemented IOT, thus allowing the adoption of smaller cement contents. Therefore, for the first time, the behaviour of fibre-reinforced cemented IOT was presented and its dependency on moulding characteristics based on compaction curves position.

The rapid development and deployment of multiple safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines were critical cornerstones of pandemic control. However, vaccine inequity and the emergence of new variants of concern (VOCs) highlighted major gaps in the global strategy to control SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite the use of distinct platforms, most approved vaccines utilize the Spike protein as the main antigen due to its pivotal role in virus entry, mediated by the receptor binding domain (RBD). In this context, RBD stands out as a promising antigen for a subunit vaccine candidate, as it is the main target of neutralizing antibodies, has a well-established scalable production pipeline, and has proven safety. Approaches to enhance RBD immunogenicity encompass the addition of adjuvants and antigen multimerization. In this study, we compared the immunogenic properties of the Wuhan RBD monomer and homodimer with an RBD heterotrimer formulation composed of the Delta, Beta and Gamma variants. We also screened different adjuvants to optimize both humoral and cellular immunity. Our results showed that immunization with the RBD dimer and trimer, in the presence of the adjuvant AddaS03, elicited a higher humoral response and a broader neutralization profile. Additionally, RBD-trimer immunization more efficiently inhibited viral replication in the lungs of mice challenged with the ancestral Wuhan strain compared to the monomer. We further optimized our vaccine formulation by combining the adjuvants AddaS03 and Poly I:C, which demonstrated a synergistic effect, integrating the potent humoral response induced by AddaS03 with the cellular Th1 skewing capacity of Poly I:C. The AddaS03+ Poly I:C mixture induced antibodies with higher affinity and an increased frequency of RBD-specific IgG2c-producing bone marrow plasma cells, highlighting the potential of this adjuvant combination to generate long-lived memory plasma cells. Additionally, we identified sequences within the RBD that induced specific IFNγ T cell responses. Peptide 12 (393-TNVYADSFVIRGDEVRQ-409) emerged as the immunodominant CD4 T cell epitope, whereas peptides 28 (505-YQPYRVVVLSFELLHAP-521) and 29 (512-VLSFELLHAPATVCGPK-528) successfully activated CD8 T cells. These findings underscore that antigen multimerization and the strategic combination of adjuvants can significantly improve vaccine immunogenicity.

Slurry tailings storage in large impoundments has been largely used worldwide for a long time, as their cost is very competitive. However, recent disasters have brought to light the need to better comprehend the mechanics of the materials stored and to search for disposal alternatives to overcome the drawbacks. One possibility is the filtered tailings disposal (dry stacking) which requires a better understanding of the material’s response in a dewatered (through filtration) and compacted condition. This paper compares two tailings from the same beneficiation (treatment) plant with different gradings and mineralogy, related to the beneficial processes they undergo. A series of triaxial tests comprising isotropic compression without shearing specimens, as well as isotropic compression followed by drained (CID) and undrained (CIU) shearing, and K -compression followed by undrained (CKU) shearing specimens were conducted over a range of confining pressures and initial compaction degrees. The experimental program allowed the evaluation of convergence for normal compression lines (NCLs) and the analysis under the light of critical state soil mechanics for the stress–strain response of the tested materials. The research outcomes show that changes in iron ore tailings gradings due to different production processes and the use of different compaction degrees had an influence on its behavior (compression and shearing) at lower stress levels, while at higher stresses levels, this difference is erased and there is a convergence for unique and parallels NCL and CSL on ν –ln p′ plane with a spacing of 2.71. On the p′–q plane both tailings showed a unique and similar CSL.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an important therapeutic option for some hematological diseases. However, patients who undergo HSCT acquire a state of immunodeficiency that causes significant mortality. Reconstitution of thymic function is needed to support the immune system. One way to measure thymic function is through T-cell receptor excision circle (TREC) quantification. TRECs are generated by T-cell receptor gene rearrangements during T-cell maturation in the thymus and represent a reliable marker for thymic output. In this study, we aimed to assess aging and malignant hematological diseases as two important factors that may influence thymic output before HSCT. We observed that patients before HSCT presented signal joint TREC (sjTREC) numbers lower than 606.55 copies/μg DNA (low values) compared with healthy individuals, with an odds ratio (OR) of 12.88 [95% confidence interval (CI): 5.26-31.53;  < 0.001]. Our results showed that a group of older individuals (≥50 years old), comprising both healthy individuals and patients, had an OR of 10.07 (95% CI: 2.80-36.20) for low sjTREC values compared with younger individuals (≤24 years old;  < 0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis confirmed that both older age (≥50 years old) and malignant hematological diseases and their treatments were important and independent risk factors related to thymic function impairment (  < 0.001). The median sjTREC value for patients of all ages was significantly lower than the sjTREC median for the subgroup of older healthy individuals (≥50 years old;  < 0.001). These data suggested that patients before HSCT and healthy individuals exhibited age-dependent thymic impairment, and that prior treatment for hematological diseases may exacerbate aging-related deterioration of natural thymic function. Furthermore, we analyzed these patients 9 months post-HSCT and compared patients who underwent autologous HSCT with those who underwent allogeneic HSCT. Both groups of patients achieved sjTREC copy numbers similar to those of healthy individuals. We did not find a close relationship between impaired thymic function prior to HSCT and worse thymic recovery after HSCT.