Development and validation of standardization methods of aqueous sapropel extract

Methodological bases and uniform standardization criteria of humic compounds as substances for drug products have not been developed yet. This is due to the structural complexity of humic compounds, the variety of ways to extract them from natural objects, the impossibility of using many classical methods of analytical chemistry to identify and quantify humic substances (HS), the lack of standard samples. The identification of humic acids (HA) in the aqueous sapropel extract (ASE) is identified after extracting from ASE by alkaline hydrolysis by the quantification method. After further precipitation with a concentrated sulfuric acid solution characteristic dark brown color is appeared. It was carried out the HA extraction from the sample of ASE, the precipitation of HA, the oxidation of HA and Mohr’s salt titration in accordance with the methodology developed on the basis of SSTU 7083:2009. It was determined that the total mass fraction of HA in the ASE sample was 83.8 mg/g± 0.12%. The methods of identification and quantification of the total mass of HA in ASE have been developed and validated. The ASE has been standardized.

Refinement Proposals for Geodiversity Assessment—A Case Study in the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, Hungary

Geodiversity is the variety of natural elements that are excluded from biodiversity, such as: geological, geomorphological, and soil features including their properties, systems, and relationships. Geodiversity assessment measures these features, emphasising the characteristics and physical fragility of the examined areas. In this study, a quantitative methodology has been applied in Bakony–Balaton UGGp, Hungary. The Geopark’s area was divided into 2 × 2 km cells in which geodiversity indices were calculated using various data: maps, spatial databases, and elevation models. However, data sources differ significantly in each country: thematic information may not be entirely public or does not have the appropriate scale and complexity. We proposed to use universal data—geomorphons and a watercourse network—derived from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to calculate geomorphological diversity. Making a balance between the base materials was also an aim of this research. As sources with different data densities are used, some abiotic elements may be overrepresented, while others seem to have less significance. The normalisation of thematic layers solves this problem: it gives a proportion to each sub-element and creates a balanced index. By applying worldwide accessible digital base data and statistical standardization methods, abiotic nature quantification may open new perspectives in geoconservation.

MRI Intensity Standardization Evaluation Design for Head and Neck Quantitative Imaging Applications

Background: Conventional MRI poses unique challenges in quantitative analysis due to a lack of specific physical meaning for voxel intensity values. In recent years, intensity standardization methods to optimize MRI signal consistency have been developed to address this problem. However, the effects of standardization methods on the head and neck region have not been previously investigated. Purpose: This study proposes a workflow based on healthy tissue region of interest (ROI) analysis to determine intensity consistency within a patient cohort. Through this workflow, we systematically evaluate different intensity standardization methods for T2-weighted MRI of the head and neck region. Methods: Two image cohorts of five head and neck cancer patients, one with heterogeneous acquisition parameters (median age 59 years [range, 53-61]), and another with homogeneous acquisition parameters from a clinical trial (NCT04265430) (median age 61 years [range, 54-77]) were retrospectively analyzed. The standard deviation of cohort-level normalized mean intensity (SD NMIc), a metric of intensity consistency, was calculated across ROIs to determine the effect of five intensity standardization methods on T2-weighted images. For each cohort, the Friedman test with a subsequent post-hoc Bonferroni-corrected Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted to compare SD NMIc among methods. Results: Consistency (SD NMIc across ROIs) between T2-weighted images is substantially more impaired in the cohort with heterogeneous acquisition parameters (0.28 +- 0.04) than in the cohort with homogeneous acquisition parameters (0.15 +- 0.05). Consequently, intensity standardization methods more significantly improve consistency in the cohort with heterogeneous acquisition parameters (corrected p < 0.005 for all methods compared to no standardization) than in the cohort with homogeneous acquisition parameters (corrected p > 0.05 for all methods compared to no standardization). Conclusions: Our findings stress the importance of image acquisition parameter standardization, together with the need for testing intensity consistency before performing quantitative analysis of MRI.

Variation in the methods leads to variation in the interpretation of biodiversity–ecosystem multifunctionality relationships

Aims Biodiversity is often positively related to the capacity of an ecosystem to provide multiple functions simultaneously (i.e. multifunctionality). However, there is some controversy over whether biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships depend on the number of functions considered. Particularly, investigators have documented contrasting findings that the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem multifunctionality do not change or increase with the number of ecosystem functions. Here, we provide some clarity on this issue by examining the statistical underpinnings of different multifunctionality metrics. Methods We used simulations and data from a variety of empirical studies conducted across spatial scales (from local to global) and biomes (temperate and alpine grasslands, forests and drylands). We revisited three methods to quantify multifunctionality including the averaging approach, summing approach and threshold-based approach. Important Findings Biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships either did not change or increased as more functions were considered. These results were best explained by the statistical underpinnings of the averaging and summing multifunctionality metrics. Specifically, by averaging the individual ecosystem functions, the biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships equal the population mean of biodiversity-single function relationships, and thus will not change with the number of functions. Likewise, by summing the individual ecosystem functions, the strength of biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships increases as the number of functions increased. We proposed a scaling standardization method by converting the averaging or summing metrics into a scaling metric, which would make comparisons among different biodiversity studies. In addition, we showed that the range-relevant standardization can be applied to the threshold-based approach by solving for the mathematical artefact of the approach (i.e. the effects of biodiversity may artificially increase with the number of functions considered). Our study highlights different approaches yield different results and that it is essential to develop an understanding of the statistical underpinnings of different approaches. The standardization methods provide a prospective way of comparing biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships across studies.

Automated Normalized Solution for Finding Duplicate Records from Multiple Data Sources

Information merging may be a testing issue clinched alongside information reconciliation. The convenience of information builds when it is joined Also combined for other information from various (Web) wellsprings. The guarantee from claiming enormous information hinges upon tending to a few enormous information coordination challenges, for example, such that record linkage toward scale, ongoing information fusion, What's more coordinating profound Web. In spite of significantly fill in need been directed with respect to these problems, there may be constrained worth of effort on making An uniform, standard record from an assembly for records relating of the similar genuine world substance. Author allude with this errand as document standardization. Such a record illustration, ‘coined normalized record, may be essential for both front end and back end provisions’. In this paper, author formalize those record standardization problem, available in-depth dissection from claiming standardization granularity levels Also for standardization types. We recommend a thorough structure to registering the normalized record. Those suggested schema incorporates a suit of shield from claiming record standardization methods, from credulous ones, which utilize best the data assembled starting with records themselves, to complex strategies, which comprehensively mine an assembly about copy records when selecting a quality for a trait of a normalized record.