Enabling Automatic Detection of Anomalies in Wastewater: A Highly Simplified Approach to Defining “Normal” in Complex Chemical Mixtures

Wastewater treatment demands management of influent conditions to stabilize biological processes. Generally wastewater collection systems lack advance warning of approaching water parcels with anomalous characteristics, which could then be diverted for testing or pre-treatment. A major challenge in achieving this goal is identifying anomalies against the complex chemical background of wastewaters. This work evaluates unsupervised clustering methods to characterize “normal” wastewater characteristics, using >17 months of 10-min resolution absorbance spectrometry data collected at an operating wastewater treatment facility. Comparison of results using K-means, GMM, Hierarchical, and DBSCAN clustering shows minimal intra-cluster variability achieved using K-means. The four K-means clusters include three representing 99% of samples, with the remaining cluster (<0.3% of samples) representing atypical measurements, demonstrating utility in identifying both underlying modalities of wastewater characteristics and outliers. K-means clustering provides a better separation than grouping based on factors such as month, precipitation, or flow (with 25% overlap at 1-σ level, compared to 93, 93, and 83%, respectively) and enables identification of patterns that are not visible in factor-driven grouping, e.g., shows that summer and November months have a characteristic type of behavior. When evaluated with respect to wastewater influent changes occurring during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the K-means approach shows a distinct change in strength of diurnal patterns when compared to non-pandemic periods during the same season. This method may therefore be useful both as a tool for fast anomaly detection in wastewaters, contributing to improved infrastructure resilience, as well for providing overall analysis of temporal patterns in wastewater characteristics.

Features of psychological training in working with anxious teenagers

Актуальность статьи вызвана наличием большой доли тревожных подростков, нуждающихся в своевременном решении имеющейся психологической проблемы. Цель статьи заключается в апробации идей, относящихся к обоснованию цикла из десяти тренинговых занятий «Быть в гармонии с собой», обеспечивающих научно-методическое оснащение процесса осознания причин тревожности подростков, а также способов ее предотвращения или преодоления с учетом общих и дифференцированных ситуационных и личностных ресурсов. В тренинге заложена возможность освоения способов снижения тревожности на ранних этапах налаживания подростком социально-психологического контакта; предусмотрено выявление собственных личностных ресурсов, освоение способов их применения в ситуациях усиления тревожности, закрепление навыков саморегуляции с учетом общих особенностей и характерного вида тревожности. Акцент сделан на закреплении опыта позитивных изменений с учетом реальных условий проявления реактивной или личностной тревожности. Подход к созданию психологического тренинга для тревожных подростков на основе предложенных идей может быть использован в прикладных исследованиях и в профессиональной деятельности педагога-психолога. The relevance of the article is caused by the presence of a large proportion of anxious adolescents who need a timely solution to the existing psychological problem. The aim of the article is to test ideas related to the justification of a cycle of ten training sessions "To be in harmony with yourself", providing scientific and methodological equipment for the process of understanding the causes of adolescent anxiety, as well as ways to prevent or overcome it, taking into account common and differentiated situational and personal resources. The training provides for the possibility of mastering ways to reduce anxiety at the early stages of establishing socio-psychological contact by a teenager. It provides the identification of their own personal resources, the development of ways to use them in situations of increased anxiety, the consolidation of self-regulation skills, taking into account general features and the characteristic type of anxiety. The emphasis is placed on consolidating the experience of positive changes, taking into account the real conditions of the manifestation of reactive or personal anxiety. The approach to creating psychological training for anxious adolescents based on the proposed ideas can be used in applied research and in the professional activity of a teacher-psychologist.

Clinical Profile and Outcome of Diabetic Foot Ulcer in Teritary Care Hospital

Background: The goal of this study was to estimate the disease burden of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) admissions in a tertiary care hospital in a developing country in terms of clinical profile and outcome. Method: In this descriptive study, the data were collected from the medical record of diabetic patients with foot ulcer who were treated in Saveetha medical college and hospital between the period of February to November 2020. The demographic characteristic, type of foot lesion, etiology, isolated microorganism, treatment, and outcome were reviewed. Results: There were 180 admissions with diabetic foot problems involving 100 patients. All of the patients had type 2 diabetes, and there was no gender bias. The average age was 50, and diabetes control was poor. The majority of patients had no knowledge what had caused their symptoms. In 56 % of cases, ulcers were neuropathic, 25% were neuro ischemic, and a smaller fraction were pure ischemia. More than 70% of ulcers were Wagner grade 3 or higher, with infection occurring in nearly every patient. Gram-negative bacteria were the most prevalent isolates from culture. A total of 30 lower extremity amputations (LEAs) were performed at various levels of the foot. Conclusion: Diabetic foot problems are a source of morbidity, a reason for LEA surgery, and a cause of death in people who have diabetes mellitus.

Biotopic diversity and ecomorphic analysis of the Gryshkiv lis tract (Poltava)

The study of ecosystem and biotope biodiversity of park ecosystems allows to identify the most valuable plant objects in their composition, to assess the degree of stability of existing groups and to identify current threats of anthropogenic impact on them. Gryshkiv Lis tract (Poltava, Kyiv region) is one of the centers of natural phytodiversity conservation and is an array of deciduous forests with an area of ​​about 50 hectares, located adjacent to residential areas of the city. Research materials were collected during field expeditions in August–September 2021 using generally accepted geobotanical methods. The list of higher plants found on the territory of the Gryshkiv Lis tract includes 154 species belonging to 3 classes, 51 families. The most numerous of them are Asteraceae – 19%, Poaceae – 14%, Rosaceae – 11% and Lamiaceae – 10%. There are two species of plants listed in the Red Book of Ukraine and seven species are regionally rare plants. One plant group was identified in the Green Book of Ukraine. Ecomorphic analysis of species showed that mesophytes, sciogeliophytes and mesotrophs predominate in the study area. Thus, the proportions of hygromorphs, heliomorphs and tropomorphs are close to the structure of the typical flora of the forest-steppe zone, which indicates favorable development conditions for zonal forest vegetation. However, in the spectrum of cenomorphs the share of ruderants is quite significant – almost 20%, the percentage of adventitious species is close to 3%. This indicates a significant anthropogenic transformation of the flora of the surveyed object. Habitat classification was carried out in accordance with the structure of the National Catalog of Habitats of Ukraine. Studies have shown that in the tract "Grishkiv Lis" there are at least 7 habitats, including forest (Eastern European mesophilic eutrophic deciduous forests of forest-steppe and steppe zones), swampy (reedbeds normally without freestanding water, beds of large Carex spp.), shrubbery (lowland and collinar riverine willow scrub, Central European subcontinental thickets), grassy (mesophile fringes), synanthropic (ruderal biotops of perennial nitrophilic type grasses). The dominant habitat of the Gryshkiv Lis tract is natural deciduous forests. The studied object represents a characteristic type of vegetation for the forest-steppe zone – maple-linden oak wood (anthropogenically transformed) with elements of waterlogging. Its central areas are represented by stands with a high degree of preservation of the structure and have good prospects for preservation and restoration with moderate efforts. Recommendations for the preservation of floristic diversity and vegetation of the Gryshkiv Lis tract include the introduction of a system of biotechnical measures to support ecosystems, including restrictions and regulation of recreation, elimination of natural landfills, sewage disposal and elimination of unauthorized buildings. The territory has environmental, scientific, aesthetic and recreational significance. Creation here of a protected area will help preserve the coenotic, landscape and biological diversity of Poltava region.

Facilitating sustainability control in SMEs through the implementation of an environmental management system

This paper explores the characteristic type and use of sustainability control in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) through the implementation of an environmental management system, formally certified to ISO 14001. Through a qualitative study of 18 SMEs and seven auditors operating in Northern Europe, the paper draws on the theoretical framework of sustainability control as an analytical tool to explore the interplay between the formal design of control instruments and the operational use of these in practice for the studied SMEs. The study finds that both the formalised control instrument design and operational use of these controls by employees are characteristically formal and procedure based for ISO 14001 certification. Nevertheless, environmental management in daily tasks is also achieved by engaging non-managerial employees through their passionate interests and intrinsic motivations. In extension to previous sustainability control research, the findings emphasise that local level operator knowledge is not only the product of formalised control system design, and that external factors are also important for guiding employee behaviour in situ. This proposes that daily working tasks are achieved through a combination of organisational and extra-organisational individual values and beliefs about sustainability. Particularly, engaging non-managerial employees in SMEs through a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards appears valuable for sustainable futures. Therefore, in addition to compliance-driven controls, SME owner-managers should ensure supportive structures where employees are given the autonomy to be creative and innovative.

METHODS AND CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING THE CONDITION OF RIGID PAVEMENT CONTAINING CRACKS

Road agencies around the world note the aging of the national road network and the accelerated destruction of pavement during operation due to changes in the composition of the traffic. Many scientific studies have noted that cracks of various configurations, depths, origins are the most characteristic type of pavement damage, make up a significant part of the total area of destruction and are the main danger as the initial stage of more serious damage leading to loss of pavement distribution. Timely detection of hidden cracks in the coating layers and the base layers allows to prevent the destruction of pavement and significantly reduce the cost of road repairs. The purpose of the article is to analyze the methods and criteria for assessing the condition of non-rigid pavement, which contains hidden defects in its structural layers. The results of the analysis make it possible to take into account a particular type of defect when choosing a calculation scheme and the order of calculation of pavement. The analysis proved that the calculated schemes of pavement design do not allow to take into account such indicators of pavement condition as the number of cracks, their position, geometric parameters of hidden cracks, sizes of cracked base blocks, volumetric damage of the layer material. The assumptions and simplifications accepted in the normative documents actually make it impossible to assess the condition and predict the failure of the design of paved roads with cracks. Therefore, the assessment of the condition of non-rigid pavement should be based on probabilistic methods and criteria for assessing the condition of pavement, which allow to take into account the heterogeneity of pavement design, due, inter alia, the presence of cracks in layers of monolithic materials. The next stage of research is the analysis of existing probabilistic methods of designing and assessing the condition of pavement.

Genome-Wide Identification, Phylogenetic and Expression Pattern Analysis of GATA Family Genes in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

GATA transcription factors are a class of transcriptional regulatory proteins that contain a characteristic type-IV zinc finger DNA-binding domain, which play important roles in plant growth and development. The GATA gene family has been characterized in various plant species. However, GATA family genes have not been identified in cucumber. In this study, 26 GATA family genes were identified in cucumber genome, whose physicochemical characteristics, chromosomal distributions, phylogenetic tree, gene structures conserved motifs, cis-regulatory elements in promoters, homologous gene pairs, downstream target genes were analyzed. Tissue expression profiles of cucumber GATA family genes exhibited that 17 GATA genes showed constitutive expression, and some GATA genes showed tissue-specific expression patterns. RNA-seq analysis of green and virescent leaves revealed that seven GATA genes might be involved in the chloroplast development and chlorophyll biosynthesis. Importantly, expression patterns analysis of GATA genes in response to abiotic and biotic stresses indicated that some GATA genes respond to either abiotic stress or biotic stress, some GATA genes such as Csa2G162660, Csa3G017200, Csa3G165640, Csa4G646060, Csa5G622830 and Csa6G312540 were simultaneously functional in resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Overall, this study will provide useful information for further analysis of the biological functions of GATA factors in cucumber.

Ultrastructural Alterations in Cells of Sunflower Linear Glandular Trichomes during Maturation

Sunflower and related taxa are known to possess a characteristic type of multicellular uniseriate trichome which produces sesquiterpenes and flavonoids of yet unknown function for this plant. Contrary to the metabolic profile, the cytological development and ultrastructural rearrangements during the biosynthetic activity of the trichome have not been studied in detail so far. Light, fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy were employed to investigate the functional structure of different trichome cells and their subcellular compartmentation in the pre-secretory, secretory and post-secretory phase. It was shown that the trichome was composed of four cell types, forming the trichome basis with a basal and a stalk cell, a variable number (mostly from five to eight) of barrel-shaped glandular cells and the tip consisting of a dome-shaped apical cell. Metabolic activity started at the trichome tip sometimes accompanied by the formation of small subcuticular cavities at the apical cell. Subsequently, metabolic activity progressed downwards in the upper glandular cells. Cells involved in the secretory process showed disintegration of the subcellular compartments and lost vitality in parallel to deposition of fluorescent and brownish metabolites. The subcuticular cavities usually collapsed in the early secretory stage, whereas the colored depositions remained in cells of senescent hairs.

Prolyl Hydroxylase Paralogs in Nicotiana benthamiana Show High Similarity With Regard to Substrate Specificity

Plant glycoproteins display a characteristic type of O-glycosylation where short arabinans or larger arabinogalactans are linked to hydroxyproline. The conversion of proline to 4-hydroxyproline is accomplished by prolyl-hydroxylases (P4Hs). Eleven putative Nicotiana benthamiana P4Hs, which fall in four homology groups, have been identified by homology searches using known Arabidopsis thaliana P4H sequences. One member of each of these groups has been expressed in insect cells using the baculovirus expression system and applied to synthetic peptides representing the O-glycosylated region of erythropoietin (EPO), IgA1, Art v 1 and the Arabidopsis thaliana glycoprotein STRUBBELIG. Unlike the situation in the moss Physcomitrella patens, where one particular P4H was mainly responsible for the oxidation of erythropoietin, the tobacco P4Hs exhibited rather similar activities, albeit with biased substrate preferences and preferred sites of oxidation. From a biotechnological viewpoint, this result means that silencing/knockout of a single P4H in N. benthamiana cannot be expected to result in the abolishment of the plant-specific oxidation of prolyl residues in a recombinant protein.

Management of Infected Charcot Neuroarthropathy due to Diabetes Mellitus with Half Pins External Fixator and Pinning: A Case Series

BACKGROUND: Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN) of the foot and ankle, which is complicated with infection, is debilitating disease and presents challenges until now. External fixation with half-pins is useful as provisional treatment. AIM: The purpose of this retrospective case series is to summarize the patient characteristic, type of surgical intervention, outcome, and complication of infected CN treated in our hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case series studied retrospectively patients with CN of the foot and ankle due to diabetes mellitus type II, complicated by infection, who required surgical treatment in a single institution, from 2018 to 2019. Diagnosis was based on chronic deformity (fracture or dislocation) as proven on X-ray and recently developed infection as shown through clinical, laboratory, and radiological evaluation. RESULTS: We studied seven patients with CN classified as Eichenholtz Stage 3 (100%) and Brodsky type 3A alone (n = 3) (Figure 1), and type 3A with other types (n = 4). The mean age is 44.6 years old (range, 35–60) and mean body mass index was 24.08 kg/m2 (range, 21.45–25.39). Signs of infection include leukocytosis (n = 6), soft-tissue swelling (n = 4), ulcer (n = 4), and osteomyelitis (n = 1) at presentation. Operative treatment consisted of debridement, followed by external fixation only (n = 4), combined external fixation and pinning (n = 2), and intramedullary pinning only (n = 1). The mean hospital length of stay was 4.5 days (range, 3–7). We performed short-term follow-up after a mean of 4.12 months (range, 1.3–5.3) and long-term after a mean of 15.02 months (range, 11.27–16.8), the limb salvage rate was 100% in both. One patient had revision of external fixation. As for functional outcome, at the time of long-term follow-up mean visual analogue scale was 0.75 (range, 0–2) and American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Score was 66.25 (range, 57–77). CONCLUSION: In this study, mostly external fixation with half-pins and methyl metacrylate was used based on the bone condition and patient’s compliance. Despite of its limitation, this method is effective when it is combined with strict blood glucose level and infection control.