Vespa mandarinia (Vespidae: Hymenoptera) is one of the two largest true hornets known to science. The species is a noted predator of social Hymenoptera and a significant pest of managed honey bees in its native range, but is also known to feed on a wide variety of other species when available. Most of the prey records for V. mandarinia are derived from visual observations in Japan, with sparse observations from other parts of its native range. A population of V. mandarinia was detected in North America in 2019 and five nests were removed between 2019 and 2021. We extracted DNA from larval meconia from four nests collected in Washington State, USA, and amplified the CO1 region to determine the potential prey base. We compared these with sequences generated from three nests in the Republic of Korea, and with prey pellets collected from foraging hornets at several locations in Korea. Results indicate that the prey base was much wider in the ROK than the USA, although social Hymenoptera were the most abundant and common prey items in both regions. Prey range seems to be bound by an intersection of organism size and local biodiversity, with little evidence to suggest that the latter is a limiting factor in colony success.

Background: The biological information of fish, which include reproduction, is the prerequisite and the basis for the assessment of fisheries. Methods: The aim of this work was to know the reproductive biology with the first sexual maturity (TL50) and the spawning period for 58 mainly fish species in the waters around La Réunion Island (Western Indian Ocean). Twenty families belonging to the Actinopterygii were represented (acanthuridae, berycidae, bramidae, carangidae, cirrhitidae, gempylidae, holocentridae, kyphosidae, labridae, lethrinidae, lutjanidae, malacanthidae, monacanthidae, mullidae, polymixiidae, pomacentridae, scaridae, scorpaenidae, serranidae, sparidae; 56 species; n = 9,751) and two families belonging to the Elasmobranchii (squalidae, centrophoridae; 2 species; n = 781) were sampled. Between 2014 and 2022, 10,532 individuals were sampled covering the maximum months number to follow the reproduction periods of these species. Results: TL50 for the males and the females, respectively, ranged from 103.9 cm (Acanthurus triostegus ) to 1,119.3 cm (Thyrsitoides marleyi ) and from 111.7 cm (A. triostegus ) to 613.1 cm (Centrophorus moluccensis ). The reproduction period could be very different between the species from the very tight peak to a large peak covered all months. Conclusions: Most species breed between October and March but it was not the trend for all species around La Réunion Island.

The rack cylinder is an important part of the pile leg structure of the jack up platform. Because of its complex structure, the flow field around the rack cylinder is different from that around the ordinary cylinder, which brings difficulties to the research of the rack cylinder. In this paper, using CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) solved the flow field of chords with different rack height and rack width under different KC and Re, the characteristics of the flow field around the cylinder with rack are obtained. The results show that Re, KC, rack height and rack width all have different effects on the flow field. When Re and KC are constant, Cd will increase with the increase of rack height ratio, the change of Cd and Cl is not significant, while the change of Cd and Cl varies with Re when the chord structure is fixed.

Single-atom Pd clusters anchored on t-BaTiO3 material was synthesized using hydrothermal and ultrasonic methods for the effective piezoelectric catalytic degradation of pollutants using vibration energy. XRD patterns of BaTiO3 loaded with monoatomic Pd were obtained before and after calcining, and showed typical cubic-phase BTO. TEM and HAADF-STEM images indicated single-atom Pd clusters were successfully introduced into the BaTiO3. The piezoelectric current density of the prepared Pd-BaTiO3 binary composite was significantly higher than that of the pristine BaTiO3. Under mechanical vibration, the nanomaterial exhibited a tetracycline decomposition rate of ~95 % within 7 h, which is much higher than the degradation rate of 56.7 % observed with pure BaTiO3. Many of the piezo-induced electrons escaped to the Pd-doped BaTiO3 interface because of Pd’s excellent conductivity. Single-atom Pd clusters help promote the separation of the piezo-induced electrons, thereby achieving synergistic catalysis. This work demonstrates the feasibility of combining ultrasonic technology with the piezoelectric effect and provides a promising strategy for the development of ultrasonic and piezoelectric materials.

Bis (2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP) is a renowned extractant, favored for its affinity to selectively remove uranium via its P=O groups. We previously synthesized HDEHP-functionalized mesoporous silica microspheres for solid-phase uranium adsorption. Herein, we investigated the kinetic and isothermal behavior of uranyl ion adsorption in mesoporous silica microspheres functionalized with phosphate groups. Adsorption experiments were conducted by equilibrating 20 mg of silica samples with 50 mL of uranium solutions, with concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 mgU L−1 for isotherms and 100 mgU L−1 for kinetics. Three distinct samples were prepared with varying HDEHP to TEOS molar ratios (x = 0.16 and 0.24) and underwent hydrothermal treatment at different temperatures, resulting in distinct textural properties. Contact times spanned from 1 to 120 hours. For x = 0.16 samples, it took around 50 and 11 hours to reach equilibrium for the hydrothermally treated samples at 343 K and 373 K, respectively. Adsorbed quantities were similar (99 and 101 mg g-1, respectively), indicating consistent functional group content. This suggests that the key factor influencing uranium adsorption kinetics is pore size of the silica. The sample treated at 373 K, with a larger pore size (22.7 nm) compared to 343 K (11.5 nm), experienced less steric hindrance, allowing uranium species to diffuse more easily through the mesopores. The data confirmed the excellent fit of pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 > 0.999) and closely matched the experimental value, suggesting that chemisorption governs the rate-controlling step. To gain further insights into uranium adsorption behavior, we conducted an adsorption isotherm analysis at various initial concentrations under a constant pH of 4. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied, with the Langmuir model providing a superior fit. The relatively high R2 value indicated its effectiveness in describing the adsorption process, suggesting homogenous sorbate adsorption on an energetically uniform adsorbent surface via a monolayer adsorption and constant adsorption site density, without any interaction between adsorbates on adjacent sites. Remarkably, differences in surface area did not significantly impact uranium removal efficiency. This observation strongly suggests that the adsorption capacity is primarily governed by the loading amount of HDEHP and the inner-sphere complexation with the phosphoryl group (O=P). Our silica composite exhibited an impressive adsorption capacity of 133 mg g-1, surpassing the results reported in the majority of other silica literature.

This paper evaluates the adsorptive removal of sunset yellow (SY) from aqueous solutions using a new magnetic glycodendrimer (MGD). To synthesize the MGD, chitosan dendrons were cultivated on amine-functionalized magnetic graphene oxide. A number of analytical methods were employed to physicochemically characterize the synthesized MGD. Batch adsorption conditions were optimized using the Box–Behnken design. An optimized initial SY content of 633 mg/L, an optimized contact time of 33.37 min, and an optimized pH of 3.72 maximized the MGD adsorption capacity to 485 mg/g. The Langmuir isotherm was employed to describe adsorption equilibrium, while adsorption kinetics was studied via the Lagergren kinetics model. The SY adsorption onto the MGD was thermodynamically found to be spontaneous (ΔG° < 0) and exothermic (ΔH° = – 19.120 kJ/mol), leading to a decreased disorder (ΔS° = – 54.420 kJ/mol) in the solid–liquid interface. The MGD showed reusability and unique magnetic characteristics. It was concluded that the MGD could be a potential alternative for the adsorptive and magnetic removal of SY from an aqueous solution.

Sulfur and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots (NSCDs) were quickly synthesized by the microwave-assisted method from triammonium citrate and thiourea. NSCDs showed a quantum yield of 11.5% with excitation and emission bands at 355 and 432 nm, respectively. Also, a fluorescence quenching was observed in the presence of Pb(II) ions, and the as-synthesized CDs were used as a sensitive probe for detecting Pb(II) in water and food samples. The results showed the optimal conditions for Pb(II) determination were CDs concentration of 0.02 mg mL− 1 at pH 6.0–7.0 and an incubation time of 20 min. The relative fluorescence intensity of NSCDs was proportional to Pb(II) concentrations in the range of 0.029–2.40 and 2.40–14.4 μmol L− 1 with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.998 and 0.955, respectively, and a detection limit of 9.2 × 10– 3 μmol L− 1. Responses were highly repeatable, with a standard deviation below 3.5%. The suggested method demonstrates the potential of a green, fast, and low-cost approach for Pb(II) determination in water, tea, and rice samples with satisfying results.

닭 사체를 이용하여 장소, 기온, 습도별 시식성 곤충상을 파악하기 위해 대전광역시 전민동 일대의 3개의 장소 를 선택하여 닭 사체별로 유인되는 곤충의 종류와 군집 상의 차이와 출현양상을 조사하였다. 이를 위해, 닭 사체에 유인되는 곤충을 주기적으로 채집하고 해당 일자의 온도와 습도를 조사하여 기록했으며, 채집한 곤충들은 외부 형태적 특징으로 분류하고 개체수를 확인했다. 조사결과, 딱정벌레목과 파리목의 개체가 가장 많았고, 그 외에 바퀴목, 벌목, 노린재목 분류군에 속하는 다양한 곤충들이 유인된 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 본 연구 결과는 법곤충 시식성 곤충을 연구하는데 중요한 기초자료로 활용될 수 있도록 결과를 종합정리하였다.

Background: Outcome measures (OMs) are essential components of evidence- based practice as they help in implementing interventions and assessing changes in a patient's status before and after treatment. However, many therapists do not utilize OMs in their practice, and research on the factors that influence physical therapists' decisions regarding the use of OMs primarily consists of quantitative or survey-based studies. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to select research studies on OMs use among physical therapists through a systematic review, identify questionnaire characteristics, and assess the quality of items collection and research. Design: A systematic review. Methods: This study systematically collected survey studies on the use of OMs from five databases (KMBase, RISS, KCI, Pubmed, and Cochrane) based on the criteria of PRISMA's systematic review flowchart. The quality of the studies was assessed using the AXIS Tool. Results: A total of eight studies were selected. In most of the studies, the questionnaires were developed internally, validated through preliminary research, and reliability testing was not conducted. The items used within OMs were divided into 10 categories, with the highest frequency of questions centering around how to use OMs, and the lowest frequency regarding work environment and reasons. All eight studies were determined to be of good quality. Conclusion: The collected OMs questionnaires revealed variations in the item frequency. Future qualitative research and participant feedback are needed to develop a consistent questionnaire and validate its validity and reliability.

At a time when the demand for drones is increasing, a plan to utilize drone images was sought for efficient promotion of cadastral resurvey. To achieve the purpose of this study, the technical and legal status of drone images was reviewed, and through this, the possibility of using it for cadastral resurvey was primarily reviewed. subsequently, an experiment was conducted targeting the project district to examine whether drone images were applied to boundary extraction, which is the primary process of cadastral resurvey. As a result of the experiment, it was found that boundary extraction from images is possible. However, in some cases, it is impossible due to field conditions or image quality. Therefore, it is necessary first to apply cases where boundary extraction is possible to cadastral resurvey and seek solutions for some impossible cases. In particular, the image quality problem may have problems with the current technology, but it will also have problems with the existing drone equipment. So, standard for drone calibration should also be established. Finally, the cadastral resurvey surveying procedure using drones was also presented.

Background: The globalization of the healthcare industry and the increasing demand for skilled professionals in the global healthcare industry have opened up opportunities for specialized biotech healthcare professionals to seek overseas employment and career advancement. Objects: This study aimed to develop educational content essential for the overseas employment of digital bio-health professionals. Methods: A survey was conducted among 196 participants. Google Forms (Google) were utilized to create and administer the survey, employing purposive sampling, a non-probability sampling method. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 25.0 (IBM Co.), including Cronbach’s α and independent sample t-tests to assess significant differences. Results: About half of college students are interested in overseas employment and international careers, while the other half had not. The most common reason for wanting to work or go overseas was “foreign experience will be useful for future activities in Korea.” Students who had experience taking courses from the Bio-health Convergence Open Sharing University preferred overseas programs more than those who did not have that experience. In terms of the degree of desire for overseas education courses provided by universities, contents related to human health were the highest, followed by bio-health big data. Conclusion: Many students wanted to work and go overseas if there is sufficient support from the university. The findings in this study suggest that universities are necessary to play an important role in supporting students' aspirations to work or go overseas by providing language education, education and training programs, information on overseas jobs, and mentoring programs.

This research investigated the effects of para-social interaction (PSI) in online and traditional celebrity endorsements. The data was collected by distributing questionnaire sets. And covariance structural equation modeling was used to analyze the model. The findings showed that para-social interaction is the moderator variable in the online celebrity endorsement effect.

Mental distress has been consistently reported to be highly prevalent after collective traumas, alongside physical and personal damages. When left untreated, these will worsen survivors’ ability to function. Research also points to unmet needs, related to job security and a sense of belonging. Our study aims to identify a clustered-dimensional approach to people’s experiences after a massive urban violence apart from traditional categorical psychopathological assessments. This cross-sectional internet-based study included 1305 Lebanese adults, 4 months after the apocalyptic Beirut Port explosion. Emotions, attitudes and needs were assessed using iCode software, measuring explicit answers and implicit reaction time. First and foremost, explicit responses revealed alarming levels of distress (75-80%). Latent class analysis further differentiated three groups on seven different dimensions derived from principal component analysis. People who experienced the most intense emotional distress and intrusive thoughts had higher country dissatisfaction and job worries. Faith and community resilience buffered the negative emotionality of those affected in spite of avoidance and intrusion. The last group was less distressed by the trauma with a marked sense of community and an overall reduced country and job dissatisfactions. These findings suggest that integrating implicit responses helps cluster people’s experiences after a collective trauma above and beyond single demographic criteria as vulnerability to mass violence is quite variable within seemingly homogenous samples. They also provide insight onto hard-wired attitudes and needs post-trauma. It mostly taps into multi-factorial individual vulnerabilities and protective factors to better refine targeted interventions for at-risk subpopulation outreach and foster resilience in unstable environments.

With the evolution of Artificial intelligence (AI), emotional artificial intelligence service agents (AISA) have become common in service industry. However, how artificial empathy of AISA contributes to customer acceptance remains an open question. This study draws on Anthropomorphism Theory and Customer AI Experience Theory to examine whether and how artificial empathy has influence on customer acceptance of AISA. Evidence from three experiments (N=1057) designed by the Experimental vignette method (EVM) shows that: (1) artificial empathy including perspective-taking, empathic concern and emotional contagion has a positive impact on customer acceptance of AISA (study 1); (2) customer AI experience (emotional experience quality, social experience activation and social experience quality) mediates the relationship between artificial empathy and customer acceptance of AISA (study 2); (3) artificial empathy for hedonic (vs. utilitarian) services leads to a stronger effect on customer acceptance of AISA (study 3). This paper enriches our understanding of artificial empathy and provides practical guidance for practitioners strategically managing AISA services in AI-enabled marketing interactions.

The costs associated with law enforcement have seen a sharp increase, driven by rising personnel costs and the growing demand for policing services (Gascón, 2010; Urban Institute, 2020). Considerable discussion has arisen about how science can potentially help law enforcement “do more with less”, and some scholars have suggested introducing new crime control technologies to address this problem (e.g., Roach, 2022; Weisburd & Neyroud, 2011). With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, police departments around the world had additional demand, as they were made responsible for overseeing and ensuring compliance with COVID protocols. As a response, some countries (e.g., Singapore and China; Barrett, 2021) resorted to employing service robots either alongside or in place of police officers to assist with COVID-related compliance tasks.

In recent years, advances in the digital and live streaming economy have led to exponential growth in the number of self-employed streamers who have become an integral part of the self-driven digital labor force. However, previous research on the impact of streamers' work time arrangements on their virtual gifts remains scarce. To fill this gap in the literature, using large-scale data from Kuaishou live streaming platform, we demonstrate that several features of streamers' work time have an important impact on their virtual gifts. Specifically, our results suggest that work time duration and timing improve streamers' virtual gifts; meanwhile, work time tempo has an adverse effect on streamers' earnings. Taken together, our results provide novel and actionable insights for millions of self-employed streamers, agencies, platforms, and policymakers.