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University of Montenegro

UniversityPodgorica, Montenegro

Research output, citation impact, and the most-cited recent papers from University of Montenegro (Montenegro). Aggregated across the NobleBlocks index of 300M+ scholarly works.

Total works
14.7K
Citations
243.9K
h-index
147
i10-index
5.4K
Also known as
University of MontenegroUniverzitet Crne GoreУниверзитет Црне Горе

Top-cited papers from University of Montenegro

2019 ESC/EAS guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias: Lipid modification to reduce cardiovascular risk
François Mach, Colin Baigent, Alberico L. Catapano, Konstantinos C. Koskinas +4 more
2019· Atherosclerosis4.9Kdoi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2019.08.014

Correction: Volume: 292 Pages: 160-162 DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2019.11.020 Published: JAN 2020

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults
Honor Bixby, James Bentham, Bin Zhou, Mariachiara Di Cesare +4 more
2019· Nature742doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1171-x

Abstract Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3–6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017—and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions—was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing—and in some countries reversal—of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.

Combined measurement and QCD analysis of the inclusive e ± p scattering cross sections at HERA
F. D. Aaron, H. Abramowicz, I. Abt, L. Adamczyk +4 more
2010· Journal of High Energy Physics719doi:10.1007/jhep01(2010)109

A combination is presented of the inclusive deep inelastic cross sections measured by the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations in neutral and charged current unpolarised e p scattering at HERA during the period 1994-2000. The data span six orders of magnitude in negative four-momentum-transfer squared, Q 2 , and in Bjorken x. The combination method used takes the correlations of systematic uncertainties into account, resulting in an improved accuracy. The combined data are the sole input in a NLO QCD analysis which determines a new set of parton distributions, HERAPDF1.0, with small experimental uncertainties. This set includes an estimate of the model and parametrisation uncertainties of the fit result.

Combination of measurements of inclusive deep inelastic $${e^{\pm }p}$$ e ± p scattering cross sections and QCD analysis of HERA data
H. Abramowicz, I. Abt, L. Adamczyk, M. Adamus +4 more
2015· The European Physical Journal C660doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-015-3710-4

A combination is presented of all inclusive deep
\ninelastic cross sections previously published by the H1 and
\nZEUS collaborations at HERA for neutral and charged current e± p scattering for zero beam polarisation. The datawere
\ntaken at proton beam energies of 920, 820, 575 and 460GeV
\nand an electron beam energy of 27.5GeV. The data correspond
\nto an integrated luminosity of about 1 fb−1 and span
\nsix orders ofmagnitude in negative four-momentum-transfer
\nsquared, Q2, and Bjorken x. The correlations of the systematic
\nuncertainties were evaluated and taken into account for
\nthe combination. The combined cross sections were input
\nto QCD analyses at leading order, next-to-leading order and
\nat next-to-next-to-leading order, providing a new set of parton
\ndistribution functions, called HERAPDF2.0. In addition
\nto the experimental uncertainties, model and parameterisation
\nuncertainties were assessed for these parton distribution
\nfunctions. Variants of HERAPDF2.0 with an alternative
\ngluon parameterisation, HERAPDF2.0AG, and using fixedflavour-
\nnumber schemes, HERAPDF2.0FF, are presented.
\nThe analysiswas extended by includingHERAdata on charm
\nand jet production, resulting in the variant HERAPDF2.0Jets.
\nThe inclusion of jet-production cross sections made a simultaneous
\ndetermination of these parton distributions and the
\nstrong coupling constant possible, resulting in αs (M2Z
\n) =
\n0.1183±0.0009(exp)±0.0005(model/parameterisation)±
\n0.0012(hadronisation)
\n+0.0037
\n−0.0030(scale).An extraction of xFγ Z
\n3
\nand results on electroweak unification and scaling violations
\nare also presented.

ART in Europe, 2014: results generated from European registries by ESHRE†
C. De Geyter, Carlos Calhaz–Jorge, M. Kupka, Christine Wyns +4 more
2018· Human Reproduction645doi:10.1093/humrep/dey242

STUDY QUESTION: What are the European trends and developments in ART and IUI in 2014 as compared to previous years? SUMMARY ANSWER: The 18th ESHRE report on ART shows a continuing expansion of both treatment numbers in Europe and more variability in treatment modalities resulting in a rising contribution to the birth rates in most participating countries. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Since 1997, ART data generated by national registries have been collected, analysed by the European IVF-monitoring (EIM) Consortium and reported in 17 manuscripts published in Human Reproduction. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Continuous collection of European data by the EIM for ESHRE. The data for treatments performed in 2014 between 1 January and 31 December in 39 European countries were provided by national registries or on a voluntary basis by clinics or professional societies. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: From 39 countries and 1279 institutions offering ART services, a total of 776 556 treatment cycles, involving 146 148 with IVF, 362 285 with ICSI, 192 027 with frozen embryo replacement (FER), 15 894 with PGT, 56 516 with egg donation (ED), 292 with IVM and 3404 with frozen oocyte replacement (FOR) were reported. European data on IUI using husband/partner's semen (IUI-H) and donor semen (IUI-D) were reported from 1364 institutions offering IUI in 26 countries and 21 countries, respectively. A total of 120 789 treatments with IUI-H and 49 163 treatments with IUI-D were included. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: In 14 countries (17 in 2013), where all institutions contributed to their respective national registers, a total of 291 235 treatment cycles were performed in a population of ~208 million inhabitants, corresponding to 1925 cycles per million inhabitants (range: 423-2978 per million inhabitants). After treatment with IVF the clinical pregnancy rates (PR) per aspiration and per transfer were marginally higher in 2014 than in 2013, at 29.9 and 35.8% versus 29.6 and 34.5%, respectively. After treatment with ICSI the PR per aspiration and per transfer were also higher than those achieved in 2013 (28.4 and 35.0% versus 27.8 and 32.9%, respectively). After FER with own embryos the PR continued to rise, from 27.0% in 2013 to 27.6% in 2014. After ED a similar trend was observed with PR reaching 50.3% per fresh transfer (49.8% in 2013) and 48.7% for FOR (46.4% in 2013). The delivery rates (DR) after IUI remained stable at 8.5% after IUI-H (8.6% in 2013) and at 11.6% after IUI-D (11.1% in 2013). In IVF and ICSI together, 1, 2, 3 and ≥4 embryos were transferred in 34.9, 54.5, 9.9 and in 0.7% of all treatments, respectively (corresponding to 31.4%, 56.3, 11.5% and 1% in 2013). This evolution in embryo transfer strategy in both IVF and ICSI resulted in a singleton, twin and triplet DR of 82.5, 17.0 and 0.5%, respectively (compared to 82.0, 17.5 and 0.5%, respectively, in 2013). Treatments with FER in 2014 resulted in a twin and triplet DR of 12.4 and 0.3%, respectively (versus 12.5 and 0.3% in 2013). Twin and triplet DR after IUI were 9.5 and 0.3%, respectively, after IUI-H (in 2013:9.5 and 0.6%) and 7.7 and 0.3% after IUI-D (in 2013: 7.5 and 0.3%). LIMITATION, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The method of data collection and reporting varies among European countries. The EIM receives aggregated data from various countries with variable levels of completeness. Registries from a number of countries have failed to provide adequate data about the number of initiated cycles and deliveries. As long as incomplete data are provided, the results should be interpreted with caution. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The 18th ESHRE report on ART shows a continuing expansion of treatment numbers in Europe. The number of treatments reported, the variability in treatment modalities and the rising contribution to the birth rates in most participating countries point towards the increasing impact of ART on reproduction in Europe. Being the largest data collection on ART, the report gives detailed information about ongoing developments in the field. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): The study has no external funding and all costs are covered by ESHRE. There are no competing interests.

Performance Enhancing Proxies Intended to Mitigate Link-Related Degradations
John R. Border, Markku Kojo, Jim Griner, G. Montenegro +1 more
2001588doi:10.17487/rfc3135

This document is a survey of Performance Enhancing Proxies (PEPs) often employed to improve degraded TCP performance caused by characteristics of specific link environments, for example, in satellite, wireless WAN, and wireless LAN environments. Different types of Performance Enhancing Proxies are described as well as the mechanisms used to improve performance. Emphasis is put on proxies operating with TCP. In addition, motivations for their development and use are described along with some of the consequences of using them, especially in the context of the Internet.

Classification Model Evaluation Metrics
Željko Vujović
2021· International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications587doi:10.14569/ijacsa.2021.0120670

The purpose of this paper was to confirm the basic assumption that classification models are suitable for solving the problem of data set classifications. We selected four representative models: BaiesNet, NaiveBaies, MultilayerPerceptron, and J48, and applied them to a four-class classification of a specific set of hepatitis C virus data for Egyptian patients. We conducted the study using the WEKA software classification model, developed at Waikato University, New Zealand. Defeat results were obtained. None of the four classes envisaged has been determined reliably. We have described all 16 metrics, which are used to evaluate classification models, listed their characteristics, mutual differences, and the parameter that evaluates each of these metrics. We have presented comparative, tabular values that give each metric for each classification model in a concise form, detailed class accuracy with a table of best and worst metric values, confusion matrices for all four classification models, and a type I and II error table for all four classification models. In addition to the 16 metric classifications, which we described, we listed seven other metrics, which we did not use because we did not have the opportunity to show their application on the selected data set. Metrics were negatively rated selected, standard reliable, classification models. This led to the conclusion that the data in the selected data set should be pre-processed to be reliably classified by the classification model.

DNA barcode reference libraries for the monitoring of aquatic biota in Europe: Gap-analysis and recommendations for future work
Hannah Weigand, Arne J. Beermann, Fedor Čiampor, Filipe O. Costa +4 more
2019· The Science of The Total Environment574doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.247

Effective identification of species using short DNA fragments (DNA barcoding and DNA metabarcoding) requires reliable sequence reference libraries of known taxa. Both taxonomically comprehensive coverage and content quality are important for sufficient accuracy. For aquatic ecosystems in Europe, reliable barcode reference libraries are particularly important if molecular identification tools are to be implemented in biomonitoring and reports in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). We analysed gaps in the two most important reference databases, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and NCBI GenBank, with a focus on the taxa most frequently used in WFD and MSFD. Our analyses show that coverage varies strongly among taxonomic groups, and among geographic regions. In general, groups that were actively targeted in barcode projects (e.g. fish, true bugs, caddisflies and vascular plants) are well represented in the barcode libraries, while others have fewer records (e.g. marine molluscs, ascidians, and freshwater diatoms). We also found that species monitored in several countries often are represented by barcodes in reference libraries, while species monitored in a single country frequently lack sequence records. A large proportion of species (up to 50%) in several taxonomic groups are only represented by private data in BOLD. Our results have implications for the future strategy to fill existing gaps in barcode libraries, especially if DNA metabarcoding is to be used in the monitoring of European aquatic biota under the WFD and MSFD. For example, missing species relevant to monitoring in multiple countries should be prioritized for future collaborative programs. We also discuss why a strategy for quality control and quality assurance of barcode reference libraries is needed and recommend future steps to ensure full utilisation of metabarcoding in aquatic biomonitoring.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study
Andrew T. Gloster, Demetris Lamnisos, Jeļena Ļubenko, Giovambattista Presti +4 more
2020· PLoS ONE564doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0244809

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered vast governmental lockdowns. The impact of these lockdowns on mental health is inadequately understood. On the one hand such drastic changes in daily routines could be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, it might not be experienced negatively, especially because the entire population was affected. METHODS: The aim of this study was to determine mental health outcomes during pandemic induced lockdowns and to examine known predictors of mental health outcomes. We therefore surveyed n = 9,565 people from 78 countries and 18 languages. Outcomes assessed were stress, depression, affect, and wellbeing. Predictors included country, sociodemographic factors, lockdown characteristics, social factors, and psychological factors. RESULTS: Results indicated that on average about 10% of the sample was languishing from low levels of mental health and about 50% had only moderate mental health. Importantly, three consistent predictors of mental health emerged: social support, education level, and psychologically flexible (vs. rigid) responding. Poorer outcomes were most strongly predicted by a worsening of finances and not having access to basic supplies. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that on whole, respondents were moderately mentally healthy at the time of a population-wide lockdown. The highest level of mental health difficulties were found in approximately 10% of the population. Findings suggest that public health initiatives should target people without social support and those whose finances worsen as a result of the lockdown. Interventions that promote psychological flexibility may mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Trends and cyclical variation in the incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes in 26 European centres in the 25 year period 1989–2013: a multicentre prospective registration study
Christopher Patterson, Valma Harjutsalo, Joachim Rosenbauer, Andreas Neu +4 more
2018· Diabetologia510doi:10.1007/s00125-018-4763-3

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Against a background of a near-universally increasing incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes, recent reports from some countries suggest a slowing in this increase. Occasional reports also describe cyclical variations in incidence, with periodicities of between 4 and 6 years. METHODS: Age/sex-standardised incidence rates for the 0- to 14-year-old age group are reported for 26 European centres (representing 22 countries) that have registered newly diagnosed individuals in geographically defined regions for up to 25 years during the period 1989-2013. Poisson regression was used to estimate rates of increase and test for cyclical patterns. Joinpoint regression software was used to fit segmented log-linear relationships to incidence trends. RESULTS: Significant increases in incidence were noted in all but two small centres, with a maximum rate of increase of 6.6% per annum in a Polish centre. Several centres in high-incidence countries showed reducing rates of increase in more recent years. Despite this, a pooled analysis across all centres revealed a 3.4% (95% CI 2.8%, 3.9%) per annum increase in incidence rate, although there was some suggestion of a reduced rate of increase in the 2004-2008 period. Rates of increase were similar in boys and girls in the 0- to 4-year-old age group (3.7% and 3.7% per annum, respectively) and in the 5- to 9-year-old age group (3.4% and 3.7% per annum, respectively), but were higher in boys than girls in the 10- to 14-year-old age group (3.3% and 2.6% per annum, respectively). Significant 4 year periodicity was detected in four centres, with three centres showing that the most recent peak in fitted rates occurred in 2012. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Despite reductions in the rate of increase in some high-risk countries, the pooled estimate across centres continues to show a 3.4% increase per annum in incidence rate, suggesting a doubling in incidence rate within approximately 20 years in Europe. Although four centres showed support for a cyclical pattern of incidence with a 4 year periodicity, no plausible explanation for this can be given.

The detection of inter-turn short circuits in the stator windings of operating motors
Gojko Joksimović, J. Penman
2000· IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics468doi:10.1109/41.873216

This paper develops a winding-function-based method for modeling polyphase cage induction motors with inter-turn short circuits in the machine stator winding. Analytical consideration which sheds light on some components of the stator current spectra of both healthy and faulty machines is developed. It is shown that, as a result of the nature of the cage rotor, no new frequency components of the line current spectra can appear as a consequence of the fault. Only a rise in some of the frequency components which already exist in the line current spectra of a healthy machine can be observed. An experimental setup comprising a 3 kW delta-connected motor loaded by a generator was used to validate this approach. The experimental results obtained clearly validate the analytical and simulation results.

Male Oxidative Stress Infertility (MOSI): Proposed Terminology and Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Idiopathic Male Infertility
Ashok Agarwal, Neel Parekh, Manesh Kumar Panner Selvam, Ralf Henkel +4 more
2019· The World Journal of Men s Health468doi:10.5534/wjmh.190055

a number of pathways, including interference with capacitation and possible damage to sperm membrane and DNA, which may impair the sperm's potential to fertilize an egg and develop into a healthy embryo. Adequate evaluation of male reproductive potential should therefore include an assessment of sperm OS. We propose the term Male Oxidative Stress Infertility, or MOSI, as a novel descriptor for infertile men with abnormal semen characteristics and OS, including many patients who were previously classified as having idiopathic male infertility. Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) can be a useful clinical biomarker for the classification of MOSI, as it takes into account the levels of both oxidants and reductants (antioxidants). Current treatment protocols for OS, including the use of antioxidants, are not evidence-based and have the potential for complications and increased healthcare-related expenditures. Utilizing an easy, reproducible, and cost-effective test to measure ORP may provide a more targeted, reliable approach for administering antioxidant therapy while minimizing the risk of antioxidant overdose. With the increasing awareness and understanding of MOSI as a distinct male infertility diagnosis, future research endeavors can facilitate the development of evidence-based treatments that target its underlying cause.

A method for time-frequency analysis
Ljubiša Stanković
1994· IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing399doi:10.1109/78.258146

A method for time-frequency signal analysis is presented. The proposed method belongs to the general class of smoothed pseudo Wigner distributions. It is derived from the analysis of the Wigner distribution defined in the frequency domain. This method provides some substantial advantages over the Wigner distribution. The well-known cross term effects are reduced or completely removed. The oversampling of signal is not necessary. In addition, the computation time can be significantly shorter. The results are demonstrated on two numerical examples with frequency modulated signals.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Analysis of radar micro-Doppler signatures from experimental helicopter and human data
T. Thayaparan, Sidharth Abrol, E. Riseborough, Ljubiša Stanković +2 more
2007· IET Radar Sonar & Navigation314doi:10.1049/iet-rsn:20060103

This paper highlights the extraction of micro-Doppler (m-D) features from radar signal returns of helicopter and human targets using the wavelet transform method incorporated with time-frequency analysis. In order for the extraction of m-D features to be realised, the time domain radar signal is decomposed into a set of components that are represented at different wavelet scales. The components are then reconstructed by applying the inverse wavelet transform. After the separation of m-D features from the target&apos;s original radar return, time-frequency analysis is then used to estimate the target&apos;s motion parameters. The autocorrelation of the time sequence data is also used to measure motion parameters such as the vibration/rotation rate. The findings show that the results have higher precision after the m-D extraction rather than before it, since only the vibrational/rotational components are employed. This proposed method of m-D extraction has been successfully applied to helicopter and human data.

Association between Characteristics at Birth, Breastfeeding and Obesity in 22 Countries: The WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative – COSI 2015/2017
Ana Isabel Rito, Marta Buoncristiano, Angela Spinelli, Benoît Salanave +4 more
2019· Obesity Facts311doi:10.1159/000500425

BACKGROUND: In Europe, although the prevalence of childhood obesity seems to be plateauing in some countries, progress on tackling this important public health issue remains slow and inconsistent. Breastfeeding has been described as a protective factor, and the more exclusively and the longer children are breastfed, the greater their protection from obesity. Birth weight has been shown to have a positive association with later risk for obesity. OBJECTIVES: It was the aim of this paper to investigate the association of early-life factors, namely breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and birth weight, with obesity among children. METHOD: Data from 22 participating countries in the WHO European COSI study (round 4: 2015/2017) were collected using cross-sectional, nationally representative samples of 6- to 9-year-olds (n = 100,583). The children's standardized weight and height measurements followed a common WHO protocol. Information on the children's birth weight and breastfeeding practice and duration was collected through a family record form. A multivariate multilevel logistic regression analysis regarding breastfeeding practice (both general and exclusive) and characteristics at birth was performed. RESULTS: The highest prevalence rates of obesity were observed in Spain (17.7%), Malta (17.2%) and Italy (16.8%). A wide between-country disparity in breastfeeding prevalence was found. Tajikistan had the highest percentage of children that were breastfed for ≥6 months (94.4%) and exclusively breastfed for ≥6 months (73.3%). In France, Ireland and Malta, only around 1 in 4 children was breastfed for ≥6 months. Italy and Malta showed the highest prevalence of obesity among children who have never been breastfed (21.2%), followed by Spain (21.0%). The pooled analysis showed that, compared to children who were breastfed for at least 6 months, the odds of being obese were higher among children never breastfed or breastfed for a shorter period, both in case of general (adjusted odds ratio [adjOR] [95% CI] 1.22 [1.16-1.28] and 1.12 [1.07-1.16], respectively) and exclusive breastfeeding (adjOR [95% CI] 1.25 [1.17-1.36] and 1.05 [0.99-1.12], respectively). Higher birth weight was associated with a higher risk of being overweight, which was reported in 11 out of the 22 countries. Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Poland and Romania showed that children who were preterm at birth had higher odds of being obese, compared to children who were full-term babies. CONCLUSION: The present work confirms the beneficial effect of breastfeeding against obesity, which was highly increased if children had never been breastfed or had been breastfed for a shorter period. Nevertheless, adoption of exclusive breastfeeding is below global recommendations and far from the target endorsed by the WHO Member States at the World Health Assembly Global Targets for Nutrition of increasing the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months up to at least 50% by 2025.

Performance of the CMS Level-1 trigger in proton-proton collisions at √<i>s</i> = 13 TeV
A. M. Sirunyan, A. Tumasyan, W. Adam, F. Ambrogi +4 more
2020· Journal of Instrumentation309doi:10.1088/1748-0221/15/10/p10017

At the start of Run 2 in 2015, the LHC delivered proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. During Run~2 (years 2015--2018) the LHC eventually reached a luminosity of 2.1 $\times$ 10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, almost three times that reached during Run 1 (2009-2013) and a factor of two larger than the LHC design value, leading to events with up to a mean of about 50 simultaneous inelastic proton-proton collisions per bunch crossing (pileup). The CMS Level-1 trigger was upgraded prior to 2016 to improve the selection of physics events in the challenging conditions posed by the second run of the LHC. This paper describes the performance of the CMS Level-1 trigger upgrade during the data taking period of 2016-2018. The upgraded trigger implements pattern recognition and boosted decision tree regression techniques for muon reconstruction, includes pileup subtraction for jets and energy sums, and incorporates pileup-dependent isolation requirements for electrons and tau leptons. In addition, the new trigger calculates high-level quantities such as the invariant mass of pairs of reconstructed particles. The upgrade reduces the trigger rate from background processes and improves the trigger efficiency for a wide variety of physics signals.

Natural and Modified (1→3)-β-D-Glucans in Health Promotion and Disease Alleviation
Djordje B. Zeković, Stefan Kwiatkowski, Miroslav Vrvić, Dragica Jakovljević +1 more
2005· Critical Reviews in Biotechnology304doi:10.1080/07388550500376166

A number of polysaccharides with beta-glycosidic linkage are widespread in nature in a variety of sources. All have a common structure and the (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan backbone is essential. They have attracted attention over the years because of their bioactive and medicinal properties. In many cases their functional role is a mystery, in others it is well established. Because of their insoluble chemical nature, particulate (1-->3)-beta-D-glucans are not suitable for many medical applications. Various methods of changing or modifying the beta-D-glucan chemical structure and transforming it to a soluble form have been published. The beta-D-glucan bioactive properties can be affected positively or negatively by such modifications. This review examines beta-glucan sources in nature, health effects and structure-activity relationships. It presents the current state of beta-D-glucan solubilization methods and discusses their effectiveness and application possibilities for the future.

Minimization of Torque Ripple and Copper Losses in Switched Reluctance Drive
Vladan P. Vujičić
2011· IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics299doi:10.1109/tpel.2011.2158447

This paper presents a control technique for torque-ripple minimization in the switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive, based on a torque-sharing function (TSF) concept. In the proposed method, the reference torque is directly translated into the reference current waveform using the analytical expression. Optimization criteria of a TSF that are concerned with secondary objectives, such as minimization of copper losses or maximization of drive performance, are described. In addition, a novel family of TSFs is introduced. An optimal TSF can be easily extracted from the proposed family to satisfy one of the secondary objectives or to create balance between more of them. Control performances of the two extracted TSFs and the two optimized conventional (linear and sinusoidal) TSFs are compared. These four TSFs keep the copper losses to nearly the theoretical minimum. Each of them provides approximately the same operation efficiency of the considered three-phase 6/4 SRM drive. However, due to extension of the commutation angle between adjacent phases, TSFs from the proposed family provide better torque-speed characteristics. Moreover, one of them expands the possible speed range of torque-ripple-free drive operation, and another one, which provides the best torque-speed characteristics, reduces the peak phase current.

Precision luminosity measurement in proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 13\,\hbox {TeV}$$ in 2015 and 2016 at CMS
A. M. Sirunyan, A. Tumasyan, W. Adam, J. W. Andrejkovic +4 more
2021· The European Physical Journal C299doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09538-2

Abstract The measurement of the luminosity recorded by the CMS detector installed at LHC interaction point 5, using proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=13\,{\text {TeV}} $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msqrt> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> </mml:msqrt> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>13</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mtext>TeV</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> in 2015 and 2016, is reported. The absolute luminosity scale is measured for individual bunch crossings using beam-separation scans (the van der Meer method), with a relative precision of 1.3 and 1.0% in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The dominant sources of uncertainty are related to residual differences between the measured beam positions and the ones provided by the operational settings of the LHC magnets, the factorizability of the proton bunch spatial density functions in the coordinates transverse to the beam direction, and the modeling of the effect of electromagnetic interactions among protons in the colliding bunches. When applying the van der Meer calibration to the entire run periods, the integrated luminosities when CMS was fully operational are 2.27 and 36.3 $$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mspace/> <mml:msup> <mml:mtext>fb</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> in 2015 and 2016, with a relative precision of 1.6 and 1.2%, respectively. These are among the most precise luminosity measurements at bunched-beam hadron colliders.

Antibiotic use in eastern Europe: a cross-national database study in coordination with the WHO Regional Office for Europe
Ann Versporten, Ganna Bolokhovets, Lilit Ghazaryan, Vafa Abilova +4 more
2014· The Lancet Infectious Diseases286doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(14)70071-4

BACKGROUND: There are no reliable data on antibiotic use in non-European Union (EU) southern and eastern European countries and newly independent states. We aimed to collect valid, representative, comparable data on systemic antimicrobial use in these non-EU countries of the WHO European region. METHODS: Validated 2011 total national wholesale antibiotic-use data of six southern and eastern European countries and regions and seven newly independent states were analysed in accordance with the WHO anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC)/defined daily doses (DDD) method and expressed in DDD/1000 inhabitants per day (DID). FINDINGS: Total (outpatients and hospital care) antibiotic use ranged from 15·3 DID for Armenia to 42·3 DID for Turkey. Co-amoxiclav was mainly used in Georgia (42·9% of total antibiotic use) and Turkey (30·7%). Newly independent states used substantial quantities of ampicillin and amoxicillin (up to 55·9% of total antibiotic use in Azerbaijan). Montenegro and Serbia were the highest consumers of macrolides (15·8% and 19·5% of total antibiotic use, respectively), mainly azithromycin. Parenteral antibiotic treatment is common practice: 46·4% of total antibiotic use in Azerbaijan (mainly ampicillin; 5·3 DID) and 31·1% of total antibiotic use in Tajikistan (mainly ceftriaxone; 4·7 DID). INTERPRETATION: This study provides publicly available total antibiotic-use data for 13 non-EU countries and areas of the WHO European region. These data will raise awareness of inappropriate antibiotic use and stimulate policy makers to develop action plans. The established surveillance system provides a method to develop quality indicators of antibiotic use and to assess the effect of policy and regulatory actions. FUNDING: Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport, and EU.