by Eugene Stephane Mananga  and Lamisa Rusmeha

Received: 23 December 2020;  Published: 13 April 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2102012

Towards the end of 2019, an unanticipated outbreak, coronavirus also referred to as COVID-19’s first cases occurred in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. In early 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the pandemic as a Public Health emergency of international concern. COVID-19 is a transmissible disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The COVID-19 puts a spotlight on numerous issues varying from educational, social, political, and economic that were already prese [...]

by Angelo Morro

Received: 19 February 2021;  Published: 13 April 2021;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2102011

The objective of the paper is twofold: first, to review the classical diffusion models and show the approximations at the origin of the parabolic character of the classical equations; second, to demonstrate a connection between the quantum and classical models of diffusion. As diffusion is inherently related to the motion of constituents, the consistent models are framed within the dynamics of mixtures. The derivation of diffusion equations is then determined based on the related, pertinent approximations.

by Chen-Wei Yang  , Min-Ze Lu  , Wei-Ming Ma  and Chang-Ming Liaw

Received: 23 December 2020;  Published: 07 April 2021;  doi: 10.21926/jept.2102016

This paper presents a three-phase full-bridge boost switch-mode rectifier (SMR) fed switched-reluctance motor (SRM) drive with energy storage buffer. First, the power circuits and control schemes of the two power stages are properly designed. Except for having good line drawn power quality, the boostable DC-link voltage of the SRM drive can enhance the SRM driving performance in wide speed range. And the recovered regenerative braking energy can be sent back to the grid successfully. Then, a battery storage system [...]

by Loren Pickart  and Anna Margolina

Received: 20 January 2021;  Published: 06 April 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.genet.2102128

The human copper-binding peptide GHK-Cu is a naturally occurring small plasma tripeptide (glycyl-l-histidyl-l-lysine) with a high affinity for copper (2+). GHK-Cu has multiple biological effects. It is known to stimulate regeneration of skin, nervous tissue, bones, lungs and liver, protect liver from oxidative damage, restore activity of irradiated fibroblasts, reduce inflammation and increase levels of antioxidant enzymes. Recent studies established that GHK modulates activity of a number of genes. It has been sho [...]

by Dimitris Kouzoudis  , Georgios Samourgkanidis  and Christos I. Tapeinos

Received: 12 December 2020;  Published: 06 April 2021;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2102010

In the current work, to identify the bending mode harmonics, 30 microns thin magnetoelastic ribbons made of metallic glass are embedded inside 6 mm thick PLA plastic cantilever beams made by 3-D printing. This is possible because the ribbons are of magnetoelastic nature and thus change their mechanical state inducing a corresponding change in their magnetic state. The ribbons are placed at four different depths, starting with zero depth at the beam’s external surface all the way inside to the beam’s mid-plane. This [...]

by Sophia Demeneopoulou  , Marianna Mantzorou  , Petra Mandysova  , Nikoletta Margari  , Eleni Dokoutsidou  , Aggeliki Tsiligianni  , Chrysoula Tsiou  and Theodoula Adamakidou

Received: 09 October 2020;  Published: 02 April 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2102165

Dysphagia may become a threatening condition if not diagnosed and treated at an early stage. Healthcare professionals require simple, rapid, and reliable tools for the immediate evaluation of dysphagia in their daily clinical practice. The aim of the present study was the translation and validation of the “Brief Bedside Dysphagia Screening Test-Revised (BBDST-R)” tool in the Greek language in a sample of patients with neurological disorders. The present study was designed as a cross-sectional study cond [...]

by Anna Castaldo  , Emilia Gambale  and Giuseppe Vitiello

Received: 19 January 2021;  Published: 02 April 2021;  doi: 10.21926/jept.2102015

This study deals with the production of zinc silicate thin films employing a solid-state reaction at temperatures ranging from 300 °C to 560 °C, to develop new inorganic, n-type materials with seemingly incompatible properties as low work function, high mobility, and high visible transmittance. Depending on a careful reaction control, zinc silicates can preserve reagents (silicon and/or ZnO) as nanoaggregate guests, exhibiting tunable light absorption and emission properties that make them useful for differ [...]

by Sara B Taylor  , Kristy Arbon  and Faith Reynolds

Received: 27 October 2020;  Published: 31 March 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2101011

Somatic Self-Compassion® training is a newly developed trauma-informed self-compassion training that was designed to combine interoception and sensory modulation in order to teach individuals to more effectively cope with current and past stress. Thirty-two non-clinical adults across five cohorts participated in this pre-post design feasibility study. Participation in Somatic Self-Compassion® Online resulted in significant reductions in perceived stress, internalized shame, and bodily shame and significant improvem [...]

by Chandra Mouli Vemury  , Marco Corradi  , Feras Abozaid  , Alasdair Charles  and David Hughes

Received: 19 August 2019;  Published: 30 March 2021;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2101009

Shape memory alloys (SMA) belong to a family of smart materials, which undergo diffusionless phase transformations when subjected to thermo-mechanical changes making them ideally suitable for utilization in several structural engineering applications. Within this class of materials, Ni-Ti (Nickel-Titanium) alloys are predominantly used due to their non-linear behaviour. Nitinol, one of the Ni-Ti alloys, possesses unique properties such as super-elasticity and shape- memory effect, which makes it suitable for dampin [...]

by Kohl Jacobson  , Sam Strassler  , Courtney Spalt  , Sara Henry  , Arthur Powers  and Donald W. Radford

Received: 22 December 2020;  Published: 29 March 2021;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2101008

Continuous fiber reinforced geopolymer matrix composites offer the potential for use in structural applications at temperatures up to 700°C, while enabling the manufacture at temperatures below 100°C. Studies have investigated a variety of high temperature structural fiber reinforcements, including carbon, SiC and Al2O3. While there has been active research into various grades of Al2O3 fibers, SiC is most commonly used for high temperature reinforcement of geopolymers in oxidizing environments. Both familie [...]