Isolation of Laurus nobilis Leaf Polyphenols: A Review on Current Techniques and Future Perspectives

In recent years, the market demand for products enhanced with ingredients derived from natural products, such as polyphenols, is rapidly increasing. Laurus nobilis L., known as bay, sweet bay, bay laurel, Roman laurel or daphne is an evergreen Mediterranean shrub whose leaves have traditionally been used in cuisines and folk medicine due to their beneficial health effects, which can nowadays be scientifically explained by various biological activities of the leaf extracts. Many of these activities can be attributed to phenolic compounds present in L. nobilis leaves which include flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins (proanthocyanidins) and lignans. In order to enable efficient industrial utilization of these valuable compounds, it is crucial to establish optimal extraction procedures resulting in the highest yields and quality of the extracts. This paper offers the first systematic review of current literature on the influence of conventional and advanced extraction techniques, including microwave-assisted, ultrasound-assisted, enzyme-assisted, supercritical-CO2 and mechanochemical-assisted extraction on the phenolic content of L. nobilis leaf extracts, allowing more efficient planning of further research and simplifying the steps towards industrial utilization of this plant.

Satisfaction Factors That Predict Loyalty in Ecotourism: A Study of Foreign Tourism in Costa Rica

Recently, foreign tourists have revealed a growing interest for natural environment enjoyment. This study aimed to: (a) identify the service satisfaction factors and (b) analyze the influence that satisfaction factors exert on the loyalty of ecotourists. The empirical analysis was carried out in Arenal National Park and Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica, a country with international prominence in ecotourism due to the wealth of resources in its protected areas. A factorial analysis and the stepwise multiple regression method were performed for the data analysis of 246 surveys made in situ. Results show three satisfaction factors in ecotourism: “nature and culture”, “infrastructure”, and “service”, where “nature and culture” was the most influential predictor of tourists’ loyalty. The study also found a positive correlation between satisfaction and loyalty in ecotourism. This research will provide relevant insights to public institutions and private companies efficient planning and benefit the community and protected areas.

A Robust Method for Detecting Wind-Fallen Stems from Aerial RGB Images Using a Line Segment Detection Algorithm

Increased frequencies and windspeeds of storms may cause disproportionately high increases in windthrow damage. Storm-felled trees provide a surplus of breeding material for bark beetles, often resulting in calamities in the subsequent years. Thus, the timely removal of fallen trees is regarded as a good management practice that requires strategic planning of salvage harvesting. Precise information on the number of stems and their location and orientation are needed for the efficient planning of strip roads and/or cable yarding lines. An accurate assessment of these data using conventional field-based methods is very difficult and time-consuming; remote sensing techniques may be a cost-efficient alternative. In this research, a methodology for the automatic detection of fallen stems from aerial RGB images is presented. The presented methodology was based on a line segment detection algorithm and proved to be robust regarding image quality. It was shown that the method can detect frequency, position, spatial distribution and orientation of fallen stems with high accuracy, while stem lengths were systematically underestimated. The methodology can be used for the optimized planning of salvage harvesting in the future and may thus help to reduce consequential bark beetle calamities after storm events.

Remote Sensing of solar surface radiation – A reflection of concepts, applications and input data based on experience with the effective cloud albedo

Accurate solar surface irradiance data (SSI) is a prerequisite for efficient planning and operation of solar energy sys- tems. Respective data are also essential for climate monitoring and analysis. Satellite-based SSI has grown in importance over the last few decades. However, a retrieval method is needed to relate the measured radiances at the satellite to the solar surface irradiance. In a widespread classical approach, these radiances are used directly to derive the effective cloud albedo (CAL) as basis for the estimation of the solar surface irradiance. This approach has been already introduced and discussed in the early 1980s. Various approaches are briefly discussed and analyzed, including an overview of open questions and opportunities for improvement. Special emphasis is placed on the reflection of fundamental physical laws and atmospheric measurement tech- niques. In addition, atmospheric input data and key applications are briefly discussed. It is concluded that the well established observational-based CAL approach is still an excellent choice for the retrieval of the cloud transmission. The coupling with Look-Up-Table based clear sky models enables the estimation of solar surface irradiance with high accuracy and homogeneity. This could explain why, despite its age, the direct CAL approach is still used by key players in energy meteorology and the climate community. For the clear sky input data it is recommended to use ECMWF forecast and reanalysis data.

Sampling motion trajectories during hippocampal theta sequences

Efficient planning in complex environments requires that uncertainty associated with current inferences and possible consequences of forthcoming actions is represented. Representation of uncertainty has been established in sensory systems during simple perceptual decision making tasks but it remains unclear if complex cognitive computations such as planning and navigation are also supported by probabilistic neural representations. Here we capitalized on gradually changing uncertainty along planned motion trajectories during hippocampal theta sequences to capture signatures of uncertainty representation in population responses. In contrast with prominent theories, we found no evidence of encoding parameters of probability distributions in the momentary population activity recorded in an open-field navigation task in rats. Instead, uncertainty was encoded sequentially by sampling motion trajectories randomly in subsequent theta cycles from the distribution of potential trajectories. Our analysis is the first to demonstrate that the hippocampus is well equipped to contribute to optimal planning by representing uncertainty.

الحكم الرشيد وكفاءة التخطيط للموازنة الاتحادية والدور المرتقب لتحقيق التنمية المستدامة في العراق

The Iraqi reality misses the foundations of good governance in Iraq, as well as the comprehensive development programs that produce economic and financial reforms, especially in the federal budget, which is characterized as a fragile, weak and vocal budget. Therefore, it came as a modest attempt to shed light on the justifications for achieving good and good governance and efficient planning for the federal budget in its expenditures and revenues. The public, which contributes to building the state and achieving sustainable development that helps solve the main community problems, reduce poverty indicators, reduce unemployment, provide housing and basic services for all components of Iraqi society, and one of the doors to good and rational governance is the efficient management of the federal budget in Iraq, which is represented by efficient planning for managing public money. And protecting it from corruption is in addition to the many problems that fiscal policy suffers from, including weak non-oil financial revenues and dependence on oil revenues, and the growing deficit in budget planning and reliance in particular on foreign debt in the face of the deficit, and solutions are not impossible but need a national administration to achieve them.

In-Line Inspection of Offshore Non-Piggable and Challenging 30" Subsea Flare Line

The objective of the paper is to present the success story of carrying out an in-line inspection (ILI) on a 50 years old offshore subsea flare line. The project was particularly challenging because the 30" flare line had no pigging facilities, a reducer, a subsea tie-in connection, as well as other restrictions. The paper shall outline the approach and methodology adopted to conduct the inspection in a safe and successful manner while adhering to the company and government health, safety, and environmental regulations and meeting the shutdown window. The 1 km long 30" flare line runs from a collector-separator platform to a flare tower. A site survey was conducted to identify process, space, and rigging related requirements. The shutdown window was allotted and fixed by the production teams. The line was first flushed to remove the hydrocarbons using a pumping spread mounted on a support vessel. This was followed by various modification works in addition to rigging up the temporary pigging traps. The works enlisted the help of support vessels and scaffolding teams. Extra controls were implemented due to the low maximum allowable operating pressure and the dirty pigging water in order to safeguard the property and environment. Eventually, 22 cleaning pigs were launched a in a train fashion. An Ultrasonic (UT) ILI tool was then used to gather information on the pipeline. Finally, the pipeline was dried using foam pigs. The operation was a success mainly because of the planning factor. Many activities were integrated including the availability of a maintenance barge which played a huge role in the operation. This was the first pigging operation on the flare line which was commissioned in 1971 - a total of 185 kg of debris was collected. Moreover, the UT inspection provided quantitative data which enabled an accurate assessment of the subsea pipeline integrity status. It is estimated that USD 4 million were saved by completing the works mainly through efficient planning and utilization of in-house available resources. The inspection results will form a cornerstone in development of future asset replacement plans for this category of flare lines. The success has created potential savings for another 21 challenging flare lines planned to be inspected for the next 5 years. The approach highlights the steps taken to conduct the quantitative ILI of an aged flare line (50 years old), with various inherent challenges, to explore the possibility of accurately inspecting and extending the remnant life of aged assets that are un-piggable, in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. Thus, resulting in positive impacts in savings and further optimizations in the asset replacement plans

Exploring the experiences of operating room health care professionals' from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

Background The operating room nurses have encountered several challenges during the current COVID-19 Pandemic, which subsequently impact their clinical performance. The present study aimed to investigate the experiences of operating room health care professionals' regarding the COVID-19 pandemic challenges in southern Iran. Methods This is a descriptive qualitative study. The required data were collected using in-depth and semi-structured interviews. Accordingly, 19 operating room health care professions were included in this study through purposive sampling. The data were collected from February 2020 to August 2021 and then analyzed using the Granheim and Lundman’s method. Results Three main themes and 9 sub-themes were presented in this study. They included: 1- Challenges of applying protocols and standards of care in the COVID-19 pandemic in the operating room (lack of specific guidelines regarding care protocols and standards for crisis management of Covid-19 in the operating room and impossibility of keeping social distance in the operating room). 2- Professional challenges (tedious and hard work, professional burnout, lack of adequate support by the managers and lack of personal protective equipment). 3-Psychological crises (indescribable anxiety and worry, parenting stress, and weakened resilience). Conclusion Based on the findings of the present study, it was indicated that lack of a specific guideline in the COVID-19 pandemic led to a sense of indecision and confusion among operating room staff. In this regard, performing tedious tasks, feelings of tiredness and exhaustion, lack of support by the authorities, and lack of access to adequate facilities and equipment were reported as the professional challenges of the healthcare staff in the current COVID-19 pandemic, which consequently affected the quality of care and patient’s safety. It seems that hospital officials can use the results reported in this study for efficient planning and effective management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fragmented Spatial Maps: State Abstraction and Efficient Planning from Surprisal

When animals explore spatial environments, their representations often fragment into multiple maps. What determines these map fragmentations, and can we predict where they will occur with simple principles? We pose the problem of fragmentation of an environment as one of (online) spatial clustering. Taking inspiration from the notion of a "contiguous region" in robotics, we develop a theory in which fragmentation decisions are driven by surprisal. When this criterion is implemented with boundary, grid, and place cells in various environments, it produces map fragmentations from the first exploration of each space. Augmented with a long-term spatial memory and a rule similar to the distance-dependent Chinese Restaurant Process for selecting among relevant memories, the theory predicts the reuse of map fragments in environments with repeating substructures. Our model provides a simple rule for generating spatial state abstractions and predicts map fragmentations observed in electrophysiological recordings. It further predicts that there should be "fragmentation decision" or "fracture" cells, which in multicompartment environments could be called "doorway" cells. Finally, we show that the resulting abstractions can lead to large (orders of magnitude) improvements in the ability to plan and navigate through complex environments.

Construction Of Express Roads In Latvian State Main Road Network

Latvian State Road Development Strategy for 2020 – 2040 was approved in the year 2020. It is a vision that includes long-term perspectives, strategic goals, tasks and priorities for road network development, and it is created for more efficient planning of state road network development, as well as, attracting additional funding for state owned roads. The aim of the Strategy 2040 is to create an efficient road network ensuring that the bypass of the Riga City is accessible within two hours from every national and regional development centre in Latvia. Development centres would be accessible within 45 minutes from every Latvian urban settlement along state regional and local roads. The strategic task is to create sections of express roads in the total length of 1000 kilometres thus improving traffic safety and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases. When creating the Strategy 2040 both the changes in traffic and road use and the changes in the location of population were studied. The Strategy foresees that high-speed express road sections would connect the Riga City with the biggest cities. The proposed plan of road network development is created with the aim to cover as large a population as possible. Special attention is paid to the Riga City, as it serves as the central hub for Latvian and Baltic transportation. After the implementation of the Strategy 2040, the Riga City would be reached within 30 minutes from the nearest development centres.