Explore the vast range of titles available.

Herbal dust, a waste byproduct from filter-tea production, was annealed to form ash that can be incorporated into natural rubber as an eco-friendly filler. Three types of herbal dust ash (HDA), green tea, hibiscus, and lemon balm, were added at two different contents, 2.5 and 5 phr, into the rubber compound, while the content of carbon black, as a filler, was maintained at 50 phr in all samples. The impact of HDA type and content on the rheological and mechanical properties of rubber products was evaluated. Rheological analysis showed that HDA samples exhibited slightly lower maximum torque values (around 11.6 dNm) than ash-free samples (13.53 dNm), yet maintained vulcanization effectiveness with minimal impact on torque or cure rate metrics. Mechanical testing found that samples with 2.5 phr of lemon balm ash achieved comparable properties to samples without added ash, while samples with added hibiscus preserved crosslinking density and hardness. The addition of HDA led to decreases in tensile strength, elongation at break, and hardness values, with slight changes suggesting its applicability in similar industrial contexts. The findings highlight HDAs potential as a cost-effective, sustainable filler for rubber production, contributing to circular economy practices by repurposing significant amounts of tea waste into high-quality rubber materials.

Despite the increasing importance of the underwater segment of start and turns in competition and its positive influence on the subsequent surface swimming, there is no evidence on how the transition from underwater to surface swimming should be performed. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the role of segmental, kinematic and coordinative parameters on the swimming velocity during the pre-transition and transition phases. A total of 30 national male swimmers performed 4 × 25 m (one each stroke) from a push start at maximum velocity while recorded from a lateral view by two sequential cameras (50 Hz), and their kinematic and coordinative swimming parameters were calculated by means of two-dimensional direct linear transformation (DLT) algorithms. Unlike pre-transition, backward regression analysis of transition significantly predicted swimming velocity in all strokes except breaststroke (R2 ranging from 0.263 in front crawl to 0.364 in butterfly). The inter-limb coordination was a predictor in butterfly stroke (p = 0.006), whereas the body depth and inclination were predictors in the alternate strokes (front crawl (p = 0.05) and backstroke (p = 0.04)). These results suggest that the body position and coordinative swimming parameters (apart from kicking or stroking rate and length) have an important influence on the transition performance, which depends on the swimming strokes.

The rise of the global tea industry market, influenced by the growing demands for healthier diet options, resulted in the constant increase in herbal tea production. In accordance, increased production leads to increased waste generation, especially in the area of filter tea production, which generates waste in the form of powdered plant material with particle sizes lower than 0.315 mm. The generated amount of this powdered plant material, also called herbal dust, can vary in the range from 10 to 40% of the total processed plant, and it is often considered waste only due to its size. Therefore, within this study, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was utilized for the extraction of green tea (Camellia sinensis L.), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.), and hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) herbal dust, and the quality of the obtained extracts was evaluated in terms of total phenolic content (TPC) and phenolic profile. In addition, UAE was conducted on the three different amplitudes (20, 60, and 100%) and two different extraction times (5 and 10 min) in order to investigate and compare the influence of different extraction parameters. The results showed that the maximum TPC for green tea, hibiscus, and lemon balm herbal dust was 152.91 ± 0.74, 60.63 ± 0.10, and 356.22 ± 3.13 mg GAE/g DE, respectively. HPLC analysis conducted for all of the obtained extracts confirmed the presence of several phenolic compounds, with the highest concentrations of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) for the extracts of green tea, and neochlorogenic acid for hibiscus herbal dust extracts. The HPLC analysis of the lemon balm extracts recorded the highest concentration of rosmarinic acid for all of the UAE conditions. The results reported within this study indicate that previously considered waste, herbal dust plant material can be successfully extracted by application of UAE and that the obtained extracts exhibit concentrations of bioactive compounds comparable to the extracts of the commercially available plant material.

Food waste remains a global challenge, particularly among younger generations. This study examines the attitudes and behaviours of 330 Generation Z individuals (aged 18–24 years) from Italy, Estonia, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia using an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The TPB model was expanded to include moral social values, awareness of health risks, and good provider identity. A mixed-methods approach was applied, combining 7-day food waste diaries, visual plate-waste analysis, and self-administered questionnaires. Food recognition analysis showed that Estonian participants wasted less food per meal (3.43%) than those from Italy, Serbia, Croatia, and Romania (12.53%, 12.57%, 14.53%, and 17.18%). Nationality-specific patterns emerged: Romanians mainly discarded meat and potatoes, while participants from Estonia, Croatia, and Serbia wasted fruit and vegetables; Italians most frequently wasted fish and dairy. The extended TPB effectively predicted intentions to reduce food waste, identifying key behavioural determinants that can inform targeted interventions for young consumers.

There is a great heterogeneity in the starting techniques used by international-level swimmers in relay events. The aim of the present study was to analyse and compare the two most commonly used relay start techniques by male and female competitive swimmers. Thirteen males and seven females national and international-level swimmers performed several 25-m trials with their preferred relay start (n = 91, short-step; n = 54, long-step technique). Linear mixed models examined the effects of gender and start technique, with 5-m start times as a covariate. Swimmers performing long-step showed faster 5-m (0.09 s, d = 1.10) and 10-m (0.09 s, d = 0.39) times than those performing short-step starts, regardless of gender (all p < 0.001). This was the result of i) longer block times, ii) faster horizontal velocities with lower peak forces during the leg step and iii) faster velocities with higher peak forces when driving-off the block in the long-step technique. In both relay techniques, females showed 0.11 s (d = 1.38) longer 5-m and 0.69 s (d = 2.99) longer 10-m (both p < 0.001) times compared to males with longer block times and slower velocities in all key events. Swimmers should take advantage of the new starting platforms to apply long-step start techniques that increase horizontal displacement but also forward velocity before leaving the block.

Although rhythmic coordination has been extensively studied in the literature, questions remain about the correspondence of constraints that have been identified in the related contexts of inter-limb and intra-limb coordination. Here we used a 2-DOF robot arm which allows flexible manipulation of forces to investigate the effect on coordination stability of intra-limb coordination of: (i) the synchrony of force requirements and (ii) the involvement of bi-functional muscles. Ten subjects produced simultaneous rhythmic flexion–extension (FE) and supination-pronation (SP) elbow movements in two coordination patterns: (1) flexion synchronized with supination/extension with pronation (in-phase pattern) and (2) flexion synchronized with pronation/extension with supination (anti-phase pattern). The movements were produced with five different settings of the robot arm: a neutral setting that imposed balanced force requirements, and four other settings that increased the force requirements for one direction in both DOF. When combined with specific coordination patterns, these settings created conditions in which either synchronous or alternate patterns of forcing were necessary to perform the task. Results showed that synchronous tasks were more stable than asynchronous tasks ( P  < 0.05). Within the synchronous tasks, some robot settings were designed to either increase or decrease the use of bi-functional muscles. Although there was no difference for the bi-functional muscle biceps brachii, the coordination was more stable for the condition in which the greatest force requirements corresponded to the mechanical action of the bi-functional pronator teres ( P  < 0.05). In conclusion, force synchrony increases the stability of rhythmic intra-limb coordination, but further research is needed to clarify the role of bi-functional muscles in this effect.

The ReAct (Recovery, Activity) project is an ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) supported initiative comprising a large consortium of laboratories. Here, the results from more than 23 laboratories are presented. The primary purpose was to design experiments simulating typical casework circumstances; collect data and to implement Bayesian networks to assess the value (i.e., likelihood ratio) of DNA results given activity level propositions. Two different experimental designs were used to simulate a robbery, where a screwdriver was used to force a door or window. Propositions and case information were chosen following laboratory feedback listing typical casework circumstances (included in the paper). Whereas the proposition representing prosecution’s view is applicable to many cases: the defendant forced the door/window with his screwdriver; the proposition representing defence’s view are more variable depending on what is alleged to have happened. In a direct transfer experiment, the defendant owned and used the screwdriver, but he did not force the door/window in question. An unknown person used the defendant’s stolen screwdriver. In an indirect transfer experiment, the defendant neither owned, saw, nor used the screwdriver, nor did they force the door or window. Instead, an unknown individual—someone with whom the defendant had interacted (e.g., by shaking hands or touching the same objects)—used the recovered tool to force entry. In the first experiment, if the defendant forced the door/window, then s/he is the last handler of the screw driver, whereas if the tool was stolen and used by an unknown person, the defendant is the first handler. For the second experiment, given the defence view, the defendant never held the screwdriver. We envisaged the situation where an object manipulated by the defendant (or the defendant himself/herself) would be touched by the unknown offender who would then force the window. The time delay between the touching of the object and the forcing of the window was 0, 1h, and 2h. This was accomplished by handshaking experiments, where the person forcing the door would shake a person’s hand, and then use the screwdriver either immediately after hand-shake or after 1, 2 hours. It was found for the direct transfer experiment that unless a single contributor profile aligning with the known person’s of interest profile was retrieved, the results did not allow to discriminate propositions. On the other hand, for the indirect transfer experiment, both single and major contributor profiles that aligned with the person of interest (POI) supported the proposition that the person used the tool rather than an unknown person who had touched an object, when indeed the former was true. There was considerable variation in median recoveries of DNA between laboratories (between 200pg - 5ng) for a given experiment if quantities are taken into account. These differences affect the likelihood ratios given activity level propositions. More than 2,700 samples were analysed in the course of this study. Two different Bayesian Networks are made available via an open source application written in Shiny R: Shiny_React(). For comparison, all datasets were analysed using a qualitative method categorised into absent, single, balanced or major given contributors. The need for standardisation of methods is highlighted, along with the need for new methods to assess probability of laboratory dependent DNA recovery. Open access databases that are made freely available are important adjuncts

\"The greatness of nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated.\"-Gandhi There are different types of animal cruelty, such as animal slaughter, animal testing, hunting and much more. Animal abuse does not only harm the animals, it harms everyone in the community. Reporting animal abuse is important, and helpful. We have a voice and it's time to speak out and be heard!

The increasing global prevalence of mental disorders as well as a persistent stigma make mental disorders a public health priority. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive overview of psychotropic drugs utilization from 2006 to 2021 in the Republic of Serbia, examining both pre pandemic and pandemic-related changes. To conduct this descriptive study, publicly available data on psychotropic drugs were retrieved from the official website of the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Serbia (ALIMS). The linear and joinpoint regression were used in data analysis. A total of 54 psychotropic drugs use was analyzed from 2006 to 2021. There was an increase in the consumption of antidepressants, atypical antipsychotics, anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics, anti-dementia drugs and gabapentinoid-based drugs. The increase in the consumption of the psychotropic drugs was linear, with no differences between the pre-COVID-19 period and the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrary, a significant decrease in use was observed for some antidepressants (maprotiline, moclobemide, mianserin), antipsychotics (chlorpromazine, fluphenazine), psychostimulants and nootropic drugs (piracetam), anxiolytics (diazepam, prazepam), sedatives and hypnotics (midazolam). The COVID-19 pandemic did not contribute to change in consumption of psychotropic drugs in Serbia. Still, the use of antidepressants, atypical antipsychotics, anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics, anti-dementia drugs and gabapentinoids increased from 2006 to 2021.

Diabetes mellitus is a frequent endocrine disorder characterized by hyperglycemia. Acrylamide (AA) is food contaminant formed during the high-temperature processing of food rich in carbohydrates and low in proteins. Recent human epidemiological studies have shown a potential association between AA exposure and the prevalence of diabetes in the general population. In male rats, AA treatment promoted pancreatic islet remodeling, which was determined by alpha-cell expansion and beta-cell reduction, while in female rats AA caused hyperglycemia and histopathological changes in pancreatic islets. In vitro and in vivo rodent model systems have revealed that AA induces oxidative stress in beta cells and that AA impairs glucose metabolism and the insulin signaling pathway. Animal studies have shown that diabetic rodents are more sensitive to acrylamide and that AA aggravates the diabetic state. In this review, we provide an overview of human epidemiological studies that examined the relation between AA exposure and glucose disorders. In addition, the effects of AA treatment on pancreatic islet structure, beta-cell function and glucose metabolism in animal models are comprehensively analyzed with an emphasis on sex-related responses. Furthermore, oxidative stress as a putative mechanism of AA-induced toxicity in beta cells is explored. Finally, we discuss the effects of AA on diabetics in a rodent model system.