Leaf scald, caused by the necrotrophic fungus Monographella albescens, is one of the main threats to rice (Oryza sativa L.) around the world. This disease decreases yields in rice by up to 30% because of dead leaf tissue, damaged seeds, and sterile flowers. Currently, there is limited knowledge about the molecular mechanisms involved in rice plant resistance against this pathogen. For this purpose, six commercial cultivars of rice were primarily screened for M. albescens infection and development. Dasht and Salari were found to be the most resistant and susceptible to M. albescens infection, respectively. The plants were kept in a greenhouse at 29 ± 2°C during the day and 26 ± 2°C at night with a relative air humidity of 85 ± 5%. Forty-five days after sowing, the plants with three biological replications were inoculated by transferring a PDA disc (0.3 cm2) containing M. albescens mycelia to the middle third of the 7th, 8th, and 9th completely open leaves. The leaves were collected 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hai. Leaf samples were also collected from the non-inoculated plants (0 h) to serve as controls. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) showed rapid induction and significant accumulation of jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET) responsive genes such as lipoxygenase (LOX), allene oxide synthase 2 (Aos2), jasmonic acid carboxyl methyltransferase 1 (JMT1) and ACC synthase 1 (ACS1) in the resistant Dasht cultivar after infection with M. albescens. Furthermore, the transcripts of salicylic acid (SA) responsive phenyl alanine ammonia lyase 1 (PAL1) and nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related genes 1 (NPR1) genes were induced in the incompatible interaction. The activities of the defense enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX) and glutathione reductase (GR) increased strongly in Dasht in response to M. albescens infection. In addition, there was an increase in the H2O2 levels in the leaves of the Dasht cultivar during the infectious period of M. albescens associated with the enhancement of catalase (CAT) activity as well as higher levels of malondialdehyde (MDA). This is the first study on the interaction between rice and M. albescens at the molecular level. It can contribute to understanding how rice responds to pathogen infection, as well as assist with future research plans of molecular breeding regarding the tolerance to leaf scald disease.

This paper presents the resolution of the optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem and the control of voltages in an electrical energy system by using a hybrid algorithm based on the particle swarmoptimization (PSO) method and interior point method (IPM). The IPM is based on the logarithmic barrier (LB-IPM) technique while respecting the non-linear equality and inequality constraints. The particle swarmoptimization-logarithmic barrier-interior point method (PSO-LB-IPM) is used to adjust the control variables, namely the reactive powers, the generator voltages and the load controllers of the transformers, in order to ensure convergence towards a better solution with the probability of reaching the global optimum. The proposed method was first tested and validated on a two-variable mathematical function using MATLAB as a calculation and execution tool, and then it is applied to the ORPD problem to minimize the total active losses in an electrical energy network. To validate the method a testwas carried out on the IEEE electrical energy network of 57 buses.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative agent of infectious enteritis called paratuberculosis that has a high economic impact on the worldwide livestock production. A central important question arises: Can wildlife animals serve as a reservoir for transmission of MAP to domestic ruminants? With this in mind, we devised a study to detect MAP in various Slovakian wildlife species found in the areas where paratuberculosis had been documented in domestic ruminants. The samples of parenchymatous organs (intestines, ileocecal valve and mesenteric lymphatic nodes) from 83 wildlife animals representing 13 species, inclu- ding 7 herbivorous, 5 carnivorous and 1 omnivorous species were collected during a four-year period. The clinical and pathological examinations failed to demonstrate any manifestations of paratuberculosis in any of the wildlife samples. The detection of MAP was done by widely used tests, i.e. cultivation and the PCR analysis. The bacterial cultures revealed the growth of Mycobacterium spp. colonies in 58 (70%) of all of the wild animals, but the PCR testing demonstrated paratuberculosis only in one (7.69%) of the roe deer population.

With the advent of massive MIMO and mmWave, Antenna selection is the new frontier in hybrid beamforming employed in 5G base stations. Tele-operators are reworking on the components while upgrading to 5G where the antenna is a last-mile device. The burden on the physical layer not only demands smart and adaptive antennas but also an intelligent antenna selection mechanism to reduce power consumption and improve system capacity while degrading the hardware cost and complexity. This work focuses on reducing the power consumption and finding the optimal number of RF chains for a given millimeter wave massive MIMO system. At first, we investigate the power scaling method for both perfect Channel State Information (CSI) and imperfect CSI where the power is reduced by ��/���� and ��/√���� respectively. We further propose to reduce the power consumption by emphasizing on the subdued resolution of Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) with quantization awareness. The proposed algorithm selects the optimal number of antenna elements based on the resolution of ADCs without compromising on the quality of reception. The performance of the proposed algorithm shows significant improvement when compared with conventional and random antenna selection methods.

The study is aimed to quantify the effects of social noise exposure (personal music players (PMP), events with high noise exposure) and the exposure to the other environmental noise sources in the selected sample of Slovak university students. The validated ICBEN methodology was used to assess noise annoyance. The measurement of ambient noise levels was done using hand-held sound level analyzer. There were 526 university students (143 males and 383 females, average age 23±2.2) enrolled into the study so far, 192 in the exposed housing facility to road traffic noise and 326 in the control housing facility in Bratislava. The social noise exposure was quantified and followed according to the authorized methodology of the study Ohrkan. From the total sample 416 (79.4%) students reported the use of PMP in the last week for the average time of 314 minutes. There was a significant difference in PMP use between the exposed (85.34%) and the control group (76.31%) (p = 0.01). Among PMP users 28.1% exceeded the LAV (lower action value for industry = 80 dB). The results showed the importance of road traffic and the social noise as well and the need for prevention and intervention in these vulnerable groups.

The paper presents a method for estimation of converter drive parameters. This estimation encompassed three types of drives, i.e. a static Scherbius drive, a driver with a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor and a drive with a voltage inverter. For drive modelling and parameter estimation, the author implemented original program mes written in FORTRAN. As well as these, the paper describes an objective function applied for the estimation. The author also compares gradient and gradientless methods, chich are applied for minimization of the objective function. Finally, the author explains the estimation results for example drives, focusing on the coincidence of theoretical and empirical waveforms. The abovementioned procedure led to the general rule, which facilitates estimation efficiency.

This paper considers the feasibility of different technologies for an electromagnetic launcher to assist civil aircraft take-off. This method is investigated to reduce the power required from the engines during initial acceleration. Assisted launch has the potential of reducing the required runway length, reducing noise near airports and improving overall aircraft efficiency through reducing engine thrust requirements. The research compares two possible linear motor topologies which may be efficaciously used for this application. The comparison is made on results from both analytical and finite element analysis (FEA).

The results of experimental investigations into foaming process of poly(ε-caprolactone) using supercritical CO2 are presented. The objective of the study was to explore the aspects of fabrication of biodegradable and biocompatible scaffolds that can be applied as a temporary three-dimensional extracellular matrix analog for cells to grow into a new tissue. The influence of foaming process parameters, which have been proven previously to affect significantly scaffold bioactivity, such as pressure (8-18 MPa), temperature (323-373 K) and time of saturation (1-6 h) on microstructure and mechanical properties of produced polymer porous structures is presented. The morphology and mechanical properties of considered materials were analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), x-ray microtomography (μ-CT) and a static compression test. A precise control over porosity and morphology of obtained polymer porous structures by adjusting the foaming process parameters has been proved. The obtained poly(ε-caprolactone) solid foams prepared using scCO2 have demonstrated sufficient mechanical strength to be applied as scaffolds in tissue engineering.

This paper presents an original method of designing reversible circuits. This method is destined to most popular gate set with three types of gates CNT (Control, NOT and Toffoli). The presented algorithm based on graphical representation of the reversible function is called s-maps. This algorithm allows to find optimal or quasi-optimal reversible circuits. The paper is organized as follows. Section 1 recalls basic concepts of reversible logic. Especially the cascade of the gates as realization of reversible function is presented. In Section 2 there is introduced a classification of minterms distribution. The s-maps are the representation of the reversible functions where the minterms distribution is presented. The choice of the first gate in the cascade depends on possibility of improving the distribution. Section 3 describes the algorithm, namely how to find the optimal or quasi-optimal solutions of the given function.

In this study, cross-section analysis was performed on a novel rotating direct-metal deposition method capable of preliminary surface treatment and damage repair of cylindrical inner walls. The cross-sectional shape, microstructure, and metallurgical composition were analyzed to verify feasibility. No defects such as porosity or cracks were found in the cross section, but asymmetric dilution was observed because of the non-coaxial powder nozzle. Microstructural coarsening was confirmed over a higher dilution area by high-magnification optical microscope images. As the dilution ratio was increased, hard carbides in the dendrite were bulk-diffused into inter-dendrite spaces, and the toughness was lowered by Fe penetration into the deposit. Therefore, the increased laser heat input can be modulated to the typical dilution by decreasing the laser scanning velocity.

Time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter (ADC) architecture is crucial to increase the maximum sample rate. However, offset mismatch, gain mismatch, and timing error between time-interleaved channels degrade the performance of time-interleaved ADCs. This paper focuses on the gain mismatch and timing error. Techniques based on Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) for estimating and correcting gain mismatch and timing error in an M-channel ADC are depicted. Numerical simulations are used to verify the proposed estimation and correction algorithm.