Study region: The largest 23 water utilities in Chile providing water and sanitation services to 97.9 % of total urban customers.Study focus: This study introduces an innovative methodological framework based on inverse data envelopment analysis technique to quantify the additional operational costs required for water utilities to enhance their wat

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between ocurrence of fungi in children and living environment (city - countryside), sex, age, diet, undergone diseases therapy with antibiotics and exposure to hospital environment, and to indicate children potentially vulnerable to fungal infections.The material was consisted of swabs collected

Zhikun Zhang,1 Rong Zhang,2 Peng Qin,3 Liwen Tan4 1Mental Health Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China; 2Department of Psychiatry, Staff Hospital of Zhongyuan Oil Field Company, Puyang, Henan, China; 3Department of Psychiatry, Changde Rehabilitation Hospital, Changde, Hunan, China; 4Department

Bacterial predation impacts microbial community structures, which can have both positive and negative effects on plant and animal health and on environmental sustainability.Myxococcus xanthus is an epibiotic soil predator with a broad range of prey, including Sinorhizobium meliloti, which establishes nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with legumes.During th

This paper presents control studies of a rotary inverted pendulum (RIP) by applying a model-free backstepping (MFBS) control technique.We first discuss the new MFBS technique, which does not rely on the detailed model of the system, and makes Countertop Steamers use of only the system structure and measurements of the state.The MFBS technique makes