Addis Ababa Science and Technology University

The local community of the Suleiman and Hindukush mountain systems in Pakistan has largely depended on the natural resources of the environment since ancient times. The ecosystem of these regions is under huge pressure due to a lack of awareness and the uncontrolled interference of communal, commercial, security, political, and ecological conditions. The present study was designed to illuminate the link between mountain society and the consumption of the benefits from Monotheca phytocoenoses using the ecosystem services concept from the sphere of the socio-ecological system to cultural relations. The use of this approach is very important due to the visible role and dominant status of Monotheca vegetation within the ecological system of the region. M. buxifolia is strongly connected with both local and cultural traditions and is counted as a key species, particularly for high-mountain inhabitants. We report that Monotheca phytocoenoses provide several services including shelter, food, fodder, medicines, and wood, etc., to the indigenous community and is highly valued in the local culture because of the poor economic condition of the society. The concept of this cultural keystone species is crucial for understanding ecosystem services and must be considered for the protection and conservation of these habitats. The results of field and social studies have shown that the stable maintenance of Monotheca phytocoenosis forests ensures the existence of key species as the most important providers of ecosystem services, e.g., provisioning, regulation, maintenance and cultural services, indicating the close relations between society and the protection of mountain areas. According to the results obtained, the mountains community of the studied area believes that tree species like M. buxifolia, F. palmata, O. ferruginea, P. granatum, A. modesta, J. regia, etc., are the key components contributing to the function of both the mountain ecosystem and communities’ well-being. This approach will be extremely useful for ensuring an inclusive management of the socio-ecological system of the Hindukush and Suleiman Mountain ranges of Pakistan.

The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) is the most commonly used scale for measuring food addiction (FA). The previous approach to the YFAS and its subsequent versions assumed dichotomization of items, separating addiction symptoms and clinical significance items, and factorial validity testing on a subset of items. In this paper, we discuss the drawbacks associated with these procedures. In addition, we present a different analytical approach to investigate the validity of the modified YFAS (mYFAS) along with an alternative scoring method that overcomes limitations related to the previous approach. After establishing the structure of the mYFAS, we investigated the potential antecedents and consequences of FA separately for men and women. The sample consisted of 1182 Polish undergraduate students (613 women, 559 men, 10 missing values on gender) with a mean age of 20.33 years (SD = 1.68; range: 18–36). They were asked to complete self-report questionnaires measuring FA, personality traits (Big Five), self-esteem, narcissism, self-efficacy, social anxiety, loneliness, and well-being indicators. Due to the low content, factorial, and clinical validity, the first three items were excluded from the Polish version of the mYFAS. The six-item mYFAS demonstrated measurement invariance, allowing for meaningful comparisons between genders and yielded almost identical prevalence rates for men and women. The hierarchical multiple analysis showed that age, extraversion, narcissism, and social anxiety predicted FA in both genders, whereas important gender differences in antecedents were also noted. In addition, FA was associated with body mass index (BMI) and most of the well-being indicators, even after controlling for relevant variables. The findings suggest that our modified analytical approach allows researchers to measure FA using a valid, useful, and simple tool.

The substrate roughness is a very important parameter that can influence the properties of supported thin films. In this work, we investigate the effect of surface roughness on the properties of a vapor-deposited glass (celecoxib, CXB) both in its bulk and in confined states. Using dielectric spectroscopy, we provide experimental evidence depicting a profound influence of surface roughness on the α-relaxation dynamics and the isothermal crystallization of this vapor-deposited glass. Besides, we have verified the influence of film confinement on varying values of surface roughnesses as well. At a fixed surface roughness value, the confinement could alter both the dynamics and crystallization of vapor-deposited CXB.

Intensive investigations of PbZr1-xTixO3 (PZT) materials with the ABO3 perovskite structure are connected with their extraordinary piezoelectric properties. Especially well known are PZT ceramics at the Morphotropic Phase Boundary (MPB), with x~0.48, whose applications are the most numerous among ferroelectrics. These piezoelectric properties are often obtained by doping with various ions at the B sites. Interestingly, we have found similar properties for undoped PZT single crystals with low Ti content, for which we have confirmed the existence of the tricritical point near x~0.06. For a PbZr0.95 ± 0.01Ti0.05∓ 0.01O3 crystal, we describe the ultrahigh strain, dielectric, optical and piezoelectric properties. We interpret the ultrahigh strain observed in the region of the antiferroelectric–ferroelectric transition as an inverse piezoelectric effect generated by the coexistence of domains of different symmetries. The complex domain coexistence was confirmed by determining optical indicatrix orientations in domains. The piezoelectric coefficient in this region reached an extremely high value of 5000 pm/V. We also verified that the properties of the PZT single crystals from the region near the tricritical point are incredibly susceptible to a slight deviation in the Ti content.

In the analysis of finished pharmaceutical products, numerous innovative analytical techniques are often used, i.e., Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, computer microtomography, directional hemispherical reflectance, and hyperspectral analyses. These techniques allow for the identification of changes in solid phases. Many advantages over other techniques can be attributed to these techniques, e.g., they are rapid, non-destructive, and comprehensive. They allow for the identification of changes occurring in solid phases. However, the above-mentioned methods are still not standard procedures in pharmaceutical research. The present study aimed to assess the possible usefulness of total directional hemispherical reflectance (THR), hyperspectral imaging, and computer microtomography to evaluate the stability of tablets containing nifuroxazide during storage. In the study, expired and unexpired coating tablets containing nifuroxazide (n = 10 each) were analyzed. In addition, four unexpired tablets were stored at 40°C over 3 months (stressed tablets). Reflectance was determined with seven wavelength bands from 335 nm to 2500 nm using an SOC-410 Directional Hemispherical Reflectometer (Surface Optics Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA). A Specim IQ hyperspectral camera (Spectral Imaging Ltd., Oulu, Finland) was used with a wavelength range of 400–1030 nm. Tablets were also scanned using X-ray microtomography (Phoenix vǀtomeǀx, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies GmbH, Wunstorf, Germany). The results indicated that total reflectance was lower in expired tablets than in unexpired tablets in all spectral bands, except for 700–1100 nm and 1700–2500 nm. In turn, the stressed tablets showed higher THR values than expired tablets in all spectral bands, except for 1000–1700 nm. In addition, hyperspectral analysis of the homogeneity of the tablets, as well as X-ray microtomographic analysis of tablet density and coating thickness, indicated that these parameters differed significantly between the analyzed tablets.

The temporal variability and abrupt change analysis of temperature and precipitation in Turpan was investigated and examined based on a monthly data set of temperature, precipitation and drought indices (1960–2019) from three meteorological stations over the study area. The Yamamoto method, Mann–Kendall test, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI), and Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) were applied to reveal temperature, precipitation and drought indices trends in their annual volumes. The conclusions were as follows: (1) in the past 60 years, the annual average temperature in the Turpan region has increased at a rate of 0.33 °C·(10a)−1. Whereas the temperature has accelerated since the 1980s, the annual average minimum temperature has increased more than the annual average maximum temperature, and the temperature difference between winter and summer has increased since the 1990s. (2) The inter-annual, inter-decadal and normal value changes in precipitation in the Turpan region and its three meteorological stations indicated a decreasing trend during 1960–2019. Though the normal value of summer and autumn precipitation decreased and increased as a whole, the normal values of spring, summer, winter and annual precipitation in the Turpan region displayed downward trends. (3) Abrupt changes in temperature were observed in the mid-1990s, and abrupt changes in precipitation were not obvious. (4) The SPI and RDI responded quickly to precipitation and temperature, and the overall characteristics of dry and wet trend changes were consistent. When the SPEI considered the combined effect of temperature and precipitation, the SPI and SPEI are better correlated, and the SPI and RDI are better correlated than the SPEI and RDI. On the whole, the occurrence of drought has obvious regional and seasonal characteristics. These conclusions not only provide scientific data for sustainable development in Turpan but also offer scientific information to further understand the trends and periodicity of climate change and drought conditions in hyper-arid regions around the world.

Recently, Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a revolutionary field, providing a great opportunity in shaping modern crop breeding, and is extensively used indoors for plant science. Advances in crop phenomics, enviromics, together with the other “omics” approaches are paving ways for elucidating the detailed complex biological mechanisms that motivate crop functions in response to environmental trepidations. These “omics” approaches have provided plant researchers with precise tools to evaluate the important agronomic traits for larger-sized germplasm at a reduced time interval in the early growth stages. However, the big data and the complex relationships within impede the understanding of the complex mechanisms behind genes driving the agronomic-trait formations. AI brings huge computational power and many new tools and strategies for future breeding. The present review will encompass how applications of AI technology, utilized for current breeding practice, assist to solve the problem in high-throughput phenotyping and gene functional analysis, and how advances in AI technologies bring new opportunities for future breeding, to make envirotyping data widely utilized in breeding. Furthermore, in the current breeding methods, linking genotype to phenotype remains a massive challenge and impedes the optimal application of high-throughput field phenotyping, genomics, and enviromics. In this review, we elaborate on how AI will be the preferred tool to increase the accuracy in high-throughput crop phenotyping, genotyping, and envirotyping data; moreover, we explore the developing approaches and challenges for multiomics big computing data integration. Therefore, the integration of AI with “omics” tools can allow rapid gene identification and eventually accelerate crop-improvement programs.

Scrupulosity is a phenomenon of the intersection between religiosity and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It could be regarded as an interactive effect of religiosity, religious internal conflicts, cognitive distortions associated with thought processing and self-reference, and obsessiveness. The present study investigated scrupulosity in the network of religious/spiritual struggles, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, self-compassion, and religiosity in order to better describe a position of scrupulosity in the dimensions of mental health and illness. Two hundred and ninety-two religious individuals from Poland (two hundred and two women) between the ages of 18 and 83 (M = 39.3; SD = 13.7) participated in the study. We applied the Self-Compassion Scale, Religious and Spiritual Struggle Scale, Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised, Pennsylvania Inventory of Scrupulosity, and posed questions concerning identification with religious beliefs, the role of religion in one’s identity, and religious attendance. Using correlation analysis and a network analysis, we demonstrated that scrupulosity was positively correlated with religious/spiritual struggles (mostly with moral struggles and religious doubts) and with obsessing as an OCD symptom. The bridge strength analysis indicated that scrupulosity may be regarded as a bridge symptom between religious/spiritual struggles and OCD symptoms. Pastoral and psychological counselling could use these results in order to design efficient treatments for people suffering from religious scruples.

Hybrids 1,4-quinone with quinoline were obtained by connecting two active structures through an oxygen atom. This strategy allows to obtain new compounds with a high biological activity and suitable bioavailability. Newly synthesized compounds were characterized by various spectroscopic methods. The enzymatic assay used showed that these compounds were a suitable DT-diaphorase (NQO1) substrates as evidenced by increasing enzymatic conversion rates relative to that of streptonigrin. Hybrids were tested in vitro against a panel of human cell lines including melanoma, breast, and lung cancers. They showed also a high cytotoxic activity depending on the type of 1,4-quinone moiety and the applied tumor cell lines. It was found that cytotoxic activity of the studied hybrids was increasing against the cell lines with higher NQO1 protein level, such as breast (MCF-7 and T47D) and lung (A549) cancers. Selected hybrids were tested for the transcriptional activity of the gene encoding a proliferation marker (H3 histone), cell cycle regulators (p53 and p21) and the apoptosis pathway (BCL-2 and BAX). The molecular docking was used to examine the probable interaction between the hybrids and NQO1 protein.

Cosmic rays interact with fields and background radiation as they propagate in space, producing particle cascades of various sizes, shapes and constituents. The potential observation of at least parts of such phenomena, referred to as cosmic-ray ensembles (CRE), from Earth would open a new channel of cosmic-ray investigation, since it might be a manifestation of fundamental symmetries of nature. Research dedicated to CRE is one of the main scientific objectives of the Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) Collaboration, and with this article we address one of the cornerstones of the relevant scientific program: the simulation method dedicated to CRE studies. Here we focus on CRE resulting from synchrotron radiation by high energy electrons as one of the most prevalent energy loss processes. Providing the example of simulation output analysis, we demonstrate the advantages of our approach as well as discuss the possibility of generalization of current research.

The evolution of chromosome number and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) loci number and localisation were studied in Onobrychis Mill. Diploid and tetraploid species, as well as two basic chromosome numbers, x = 7 and x = 8, were observed among analysed taxa. The chromosomal distribution of rDNA loci was presented here for the first time using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) with 5S and 35S rDNA probes. Onobrychis species showed a high polymorphism in the number and localisation of rDNA loci among diploids, whereas the rDNA loci pattern was very similar in polyploids. Phylogenetic relationships among the species, inferred from nrITS sequences, were used as a framework to reconstruct the patterns of basic chromosome number and rDNA loci evolution. Analysis of the evolution of the basic chromosome numbers allowed the inference of x = 8 as the ancestral number and the descending dysploidy and polyploidisation as the major mechanisms of the chromosome number evolution. Analyses of chromosomal patterns of rRNA gene loci in a phylogenetic context resulted in the reconstruction of one locus of 5S rDNA and one locus of 35S rDNA in the interstitial chromosomal position as the ancestral state in this genus.

The absence of traditional management in grasslands is responsible for the consequent changes in plant community species composition and diversity of this habitat in Europe. The common reason for these changes is the spread of expansive native species such as Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth and their subsequent dominance over other component species. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of management treatments (e.g., mowing, harvesting biomass) and their frequency of application (e.g., once or twice a year) on the cover abundance of C. epigejos (L.) Roth and the subsequent changes in component grassland species richness and diversity (Shannon–Wiener index) of an abandoned meadow in Silesia in S. Poland. A difference in species richness was found after five years of mowing, but an increase in species diversity appeared only after seven years of the treatments. Significant increases in species richness and Shannon–Wiener index and a significant decrease in cover abundance of C. epigejos (L.) Roth were recorded after different periods and for different treatments.

The paper refers to the spring-exchange magnetic systems containing magnetically soft and hard phases. This work consists of two parts. The first part is a brief review of hard magnetic materials, with special attention paid to ultra-high coercive compounds, as well as selected spring-exchange systems. The second part is a theoretical discussion based on the Monte Carlo micromagnetic simulations about the possible enhancement of the hard magnetic properties of systems composed of magnetically soft, as well as high and ultra-high coercive, phases. As shown, the analyzed systems reveal the potential for improving the |BH|max parameter, filling the gap between conventional and Nd-based permanent magnets. Moreover, the carried-out simulations indicate the advantages and limitations of the spring-exchange composites, which could lead to a reduction in rare earth elements in permanent magnet applications.

Polarized beam infrared (IR) spectroscopy provides valuable information on changes in the orientation of samples in nematic phases, especially on the role of intermolecular interactions in forming the periodically modulated twist–bent phase. Infrared absorbance measurements and quantum chemistry calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) were performed to investigate the structure and how the molecules interact in the nematic (N) and twist–bend (NTB) phases of thioether dimers. The nematic twist–bend phase observed significant changes in the mean IR absorbance. On cooling, the transition from the N phase to the NTB phase was found to be accompanied by a marked decrease in absorbance for longitudinal dipoles. Then, with further cooling, the absorbance of the transverse dipoles increased, indicating that transverse dipoles became correlated in parallel. To investigate the influence of the closest neighbors, DFT calculations were performed. As a result of the optimization of the molecular cores system, we observed changes in the square of the transition dipoles, which well corresponds to absorbance changes observed in the IR spectra. Interactions of molecules dominated by pairing were observed, as well as the axial shift of the core to each other.