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The static sagittal balance of the normal spine is a physiological alignment of the spine in the most efficient manner by the muscular forces. During gait, this balance is constantly thwarted by single-foot support. This analysis involves the study of parameters which are now well defined. The pelvic incidence is constant, and the sacral slope and the pelvic tilt are positional. The cervical parameters are the upper (O–C2) and lower cervical curvatures (C2–C7), the C7 slope, the spino-cranial angle and the vertical cervical offset. At the thoracic and lumbar level, they are, respectively, kyphosis and lordosis. The OD-HA (odontoid hip axis) angle is the most efficient parameter to analyse the global balance. The average values of these parameters are reported with the new 3D measurements by Le Huec et al. The relationship between these different parameters was analysed, and Roussouly proposed his classification of the different spine shape. Ageing makes it possible to show compensation mechanisms at three levels: spinal, pelvic and lower limbs. Understanding these different data allows for better planning of the surgical management of the patients. Global evaluation of the entire spine and the measurement of the aforementioned parameters allow to determine the extent of the correction to be performed during surgery. Taking these parameters into account also enables us to understand the complications involved in this type of surgery: transitional syndromes or junctional syndromes. Integration of these parameters into the study of gait is an area still under investigation.Graphic abstractThese slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material .

Although nearly all domain experts agree that carbon dioxide emissions are altering the world's climate, segments of the public remain unconvinced by the scientific evidence. Internet blogs have become a platform for denial of climate change, and bloggers have taken a prominent role in questioning climate science. We report a survey of climate-blog visitors to identify the variables underlying acceptance and rejection of climate science. Our findings parallel those of previous work and show that endorsement of free-market economics predicted rejection of climate science. Endorsement of free markets also predicted the rejection of other established scientific findings, such as the facts that HIV causes AIDS and that smoking causes lung cancer. We additionally show that, above and beyond endorsement of free markets, endorsement of a cluster of conspiracy theories (e.g., that the Federal Bureau of Investigation killed Martin Luther King, Jr.) predicted rejection of climate science as well as other scientific findings. Our results provide empirical support for previous suggestions that conspiratorial thinking contributes to the rejection of science. Acceptance of science, by contrast, was strongly associated with the perception of a consensus among scientists.

: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a manifestation of atherosclerosis that affects the extremities, leading to reduced perfusion and functional impairment. Non-contrast magnetic resonance angiography (NC-MRA) provides a safe and quantitative approach for early detection of PAD without the risks associated with contrast agents. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the application of standard and centric - FBI techniques for rapid three-station NC-MRA of the entire lower extremity. : This prospective cross-sectional study compared standard three-station fresh blood imaging (sFBI) with centric - ordered fresh blood imaging (cFBI) sequences in 10 healthy subjects and 3 patients with PAD (age range: 23-79 years; 7 females) using a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Both sequences were acquired at the iliac, femoral, and tibial stations. Image quality (0-4 scale), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with significance set at α = 0.05. : Image quality did not differ significantly between sFBI and cFBI ( = 1.0). The iliac station exhibited lower image quality than the femoral station ( < 0.01). In a PAD patient with an iliac stent, cFBI preserved good image quality in the femoral and tibial stations, whereas sFBI was affected by N/2 aliasing artifacts. Both methods failed to visualize the stented iliac segment. Compared to sFBI, cFBI yielded significantly lower SNR ( < 0.01) and CNR ( < 0.001) but reduced total scan time by approximately 40% (468 s vs. 291 s). : Three-station non-contrast FBI MRA of the peripheral arteries is feasible. The cFBI sequence substantially shortens scan time without compromising diagnostic image quality, offering practical advantages for clinical implementation, improved patient comfort, and reduced motion artifacts.

Growth and flower bud initiation (FBI) were studied in single-stem plants of four biennial-fruiting cultivars in a controlled environment and under field conditions at 60°40′ N. Shoot growth varied widely among the cultivars but was significantly enhanced by high temperature (20 °C) in all cultivars, whereas photoperiod had a subordinate growth effect. FBI data from bud dissection after 6 weeks of cultivation in the phytotron were used to calculate FBI indices for the various cultivars and environment conditions. The indices also varied much among the cultivars but were enhanced by elevated temperature, being highest in ‘Natchez’ and ‘Sweet Royalla’, while ‘Natchez’ was the only cultivar in which FBI was significantly enhanced by short days. The non-vigorous and erect growing ‘Ouachita’ remained vegetative at both temperatures but flowered in spring after overwintering at 0.5 °C. The field experiment confirmed the superior growth vigor of ‘Loch Ness’ and ‘Sweet Royalla’ as well as the photoperiodic sensitivity of ‘Natchez’. The results also confirmed that floral initiation starts in lateral buds located 10–20 nodes below the apex, and from there it progresses in both acropetal and basipetal direction. We conclude that temperature is at least as important as the photoperiod for the control of FBI in biennial-fruiting blackberries.

Using an approach based on the techniques of FBI transforms, we give a new simple proof of the global subelliptic estimates for non-self-adjoint nonelliptic quadratic differential operators, under a natural averaging condition on the Weyl symbols of the operators, established by the second author in Subelliptic estimates for quadratic differential operators (Amer. J. Math. 133 (2011), no. 1, 39–89). The loss of the derivatives in the subelliptic estimates depends directly on algebraic properties of the Hamilton maps of the quadratic symbols. Using the FBI point of view, we also give accurate smoothing estimates of Gelfand–Shilov type for the associated heat semigroup in the limit of small times.

In this paper, we consider an inverse problem for identifying the fractional derivative indices in a two-dimensional space-fractional nonlocal model based on a generalization of the two-sided Riemann-Liouville formulation with variable diffusivity coefficients. First, we derive an implicit difference method (IDM) for the direct problem and the stability and convergence of the IDM are discussed. Second, for the implementation of the IDM, we develop a fast bi-conjugate gradient stabilized method (FBi-CGSTAB) that is superior in computational performance to Gaussian elimination and attains the same accuracy. Third, we utilize the Levenberg-Marquardt (L-M) regularization technique combined with the Armijo rule (the popular inexact line search condition) to solve the modified nonlinear least squares model associated with the parameter identification. Finally, we carry out numerical tests to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the IDM. Numerical investigations are performed with both accurate data and noisy data to check the effectiveness of the L-M regularization method. The convergence behavior of the L-M for the inverse problem involving the space-fractional diffusion model is shown graphically.

The basic contemplate of this work is to enhance the power and frequency variances of power system. The integration of wind and solar energy along with pumped hydrogen energy storage (PHES) may enhance the challenge to maintain the stability of the system. The design of smart and knowledgeable controller is immensely obligatory for stability of hybrid power system. In this work, intelligent fuzzy fractional order proportional integral derivative cascaded with 1 + fractional order proportional integral (FFOPID (1 + FOPI)) is designed for frequency regulation of power system. The immensely influential parameters of proposed FFOPID (1 + FOPI) controller are decided by forensic-based investigation (FBI) and quasi oppositional-based FBI (QOFBI) algorithms. The integration of QOFBI and FFOPID (1 + FOPI) is tested in four different power system environments over other controllers. The supremacy of proposed QOFBI based FFOPID (1 + FOPI) controller is confirmed through simulation result analysis by considering some statistical errors such as undershoot, overshoot, settling time and integral of time-weighted absolute error. The improvement of proposed controller over other controllers is quietly detectable in terms of frequency and tie-line power deviations. These results demonstrate that intelligent optimization in conjunction with fuzzy logic based fractional-order control can effectively increase system robustness in transient scenarios. The results of this research demonstrate that PHES is an appropriate choice for preserving frequency stability throughout the development of smart and renewable-dominated power grids when combined with RESs.

Abstract Investigations by the press have revealed that Operation Car Wash, an anti-corruption task force, received support from the FBI, the American federal agency of criminal investigation. This paper analyses the transnational connections between Brazilian and American law enforcement officers, which led to the formulation and conduction of Operation Car Wash, reconstituting its transnational dimensions, which have yet to receive much attention in the specialised literature. To accomplish this, we have mobilised the field thinking tool developed by Pierre Bourdieu and his interpreters in International Relations, enabling us to reflect on the interactions between police within a specialised social space promoter of socialisation, competition, and cooperation. Beginning with documental research, we have identified the national and international actors involved in the operation, the power relationships between them, their patterns and spaces of interaction, and potential political impacts. Resumo Investigações da imprensa revelaram que a Operação Lava Jato, uma força-tarefa anticorrupção, recebeu apoio do FBI, a agência federal americana de investigação criminal. Este artigo analisa as conexões transnacionais entre agentes da lei brasileiros e americanos que levaram à formulação e à condução da Operação Lava Jato, reconstituindo suas dimensões transnacionais, que ainda não receberam muita atenção na literatura especializada. Para isso, mobilizamos a ferramenta de pensamento de campo desenvolvida por Pierre Bourdieu e seus intérpretes nas Relações Internacionais, o que nos permitiu refletir sobre as interações entre policiais em um espaço social especializado, promotor de socialização, competição e cooperação. Começando com a pesquisa documental, identificamos os atores nacionais e internacionais envolvidos na operação, as relações de poder entre eles, seus padrões e espaços de interação e os possíveis impactos políticos.

To understand how the human brain distinguishes itself from external stimulation, it was examined if motor predictions enable healthy adult volunteers to infer self-location and to distinguish their body from the environment (and other agents). By uniquely combining a VR-setup with full-body motion capture, a full-body illusion paradigm (FBI) was developed with different levels of motion control: (A) a standard, passive FBI in which they had no motion control; (B) an active FBI in which they made simple, voluntary movements; and (C) an immersive game in which they real-time controlled a human-sized avatar in third person. Systematic comparisons between measures revealed a causal relationship between (i) motion control (prospective agency), (ii) self-other identification, and (iii) the ability to locate oneself. Healthy adults could recognise their movements in a third-person avatar and psychologically align with it (action observation); but did not lose a sense of place (self-location), time (temporal binding), nor who they are (self/other). Instead, motor predictions enabled them to localise their body and to distinguish self from other. In the future, embodied games could target and strengthen the brain’s control networks in psychosis and neurodegeneration; real-time motion simulations could help advance neurorehabilitation techniques by fine-tuning and personalising therapeutic settings.

We study the (micro)hypoanalyticity and the Gevrey hypoellipticity of sums of squares of vector fields in terms of the Poisson–Treves stratification. The FBI transform is used. We prove hypoanalyticity for several classes of sums of squares and show that our method, though not general, includes almost every known hypoanalyticity result. Examples are discussed.