Inco Engineering (Czechia)

The peer review system, fundamental to scientific quality control, faces a significant crisis. As journal editors, we often need to send up to 35 invitations just to secure two reviewers, confronting daily the collapse of voluntary participation. This reflects a critical imbalance: while publication pressure intensifies, willingness to evaluate diminishes, creating "literature elephantiasis", i.e., an overwhelming proliferation of papers exceeding human processing capacity. Current compensation models, relying on token recognition and database access, fail to incentivize quality engagement and may encourage ethically problematic practices like excessive self-citation. The unchecked infiltration of artificial intelligence into peer review, with minimal enforcement, further undermines system integrity. We propose transforming peer reviewers into professional referees, modeled on sports officiating. This radical solution involves formal training and certification for reviewers, equipping them to assess scientific merit, methodology, and ethics comprehensively. Like sports referees supported by assistants, scientific referees would collaborate with specialists - including statisticians, methodology experts, and reference checkers - ensuring thorough evaluation while distributing workload effectively. Funding would come from publishers or research funders, recognizing peer review as an essential, compensated component of the research lifecycle. Implementation faces challenges including publisher resistance and funding allocation, which we address through phased transition strategies. This professionalization addresses current inequities where conscientious scientists shoulder disproportionate reviewing burdens while others contribute minimally. Professional reviewers would view evaluation as valued career development rather than unwelcome obligation. Critics citing independence concerns overlook the sports analogy: referees maintain impartiality through professional standards despite league compensation. Quality scientific evaluation requires dedicated expertise, adequate training, and fair remuneration. Science deserves better than a system dependent on goodwill and guilt - it needs professional referees now.

Melasma is a chronic hyperpigmentary disorder exacerbated by sun exposure, characterized by asymptomatic hyperpigmented macules and patches. Its pathogenesis involves ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced activation of melanogenesis pathways, including arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) secretion, and melanin synthesis. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a multi-ingredient skin-lightening formulation (3% tranexamic acid, 2% ascorbyl glucoside, 2.5% arbutin, and 5% niacinamide) compared to a 10% vitamin C preparation and 4% hydroquinone (HQ) in suppressing UVB-induced AA, α-MSH, and melanin production in a keratinocyte-melanocyte co-culture model. Keratinocyte-melanocyte co-cultures were pretreated with the multi-ingredient formulation, 10% vitamin C, or 4% HQ before UVB irradiation (150 mJ/cm2). Distilled water served as the negative control. Biomarkers (AA, α-MSH, and melanin) were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and fluorometric assay. UVB irradiation significantly increased AA (4.3-fold), α-MSH (3.7-fold), and melanin (2.6-fold) levels compared to unirradiated cells (all p < 0.001). All tested formulations reduced AA levels compared to the negative control (p < 0.001), with the multi-ingredient formulation demonstrating superior efficacy over both 10% vitamin C and 4% HQ (p < 0.001). Only the multi-ingredient formulation significantly suppressed α-MSH levels (p < 0.001). Regarding melanin reduction, the multi-ingredient formulation achieved comparable efficacy to 4% HQ but outperformed 10% vitamin C (p < 0.05). The multi-ingredient formulation demonstrated superior efficacy in reducing UVB-induced AA and α-MSH levels while achieving comparable melanin reduction to 4% HQ. These results are consistent with the prevailing consensus that effective melasma management necessitates a multifaceted approach that concurrently targets multiple mechanisms.

The convergence of investing and gambling has accelerated with the proliferation of gamblifiedinvestment products characterized by high volatility. This case report examines a 42-year-old male commercial airline pilot who developed maladaptive engagement with high-risk financial instruments during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in significant financial losses. The patient's behavior, marked by an inability to adapt to market conditions and attempts to recoup losses through increasingly speculative investments, mirrors patterns observed in problem gambling. Notably, as demonstrated by proficient performance on the Big Three financial literacy assessment, the patient's elevated financial literacy levelfailed to serve as a protective factor against problematic speculative behavior. This case highlights potential risk factors in aviation professionals, including personality traits like high extraversion and elevated disposable income. Following cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the patient successfully transitioned to more conservative investment strategies, with improvements in psychometric scores. However, his posttreatment score on the National Opinion Research Center Diagnostic Screen for Gambling Problems, while improved, still indicated an at-risk status, necessitating ongoing monitoring. This case underscores the need for enhanced awareness, targeted screening protocols, and tailored interventions within occupational health settings, particularly in safety-critical professions like commercial aviation. Future research should focus on developing comprehensive screening instruments for the early identification of problematic financial behaviors, investigating the long-term efficacy of therapeutic modalities like CBT, and examining the prevalence and safety implications of high-risk financial behaviors among aviators.

Cascina Oremo is a group of buildings conceived by the “Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella” to accommodate associations that focus on childhood disabilities. It is a multifunctional complex converted from an old farmhouse located in Biella. It consists of two different buildings: the multifunctional farmhouse building, created by renovating the existing farmhouse structure, and the pool building, a new building that houses the pool and sports areas. It hosts four different associations, each allocated specific spaces. This case study aims to illustrate the automation and control system choices, particularly highlighting the metering not only for cost allocation in accordance with DLgs 102/14 but also for interfacing with the Building Management System designed to assist the designer in ensuring that the building’s performance adheres to the project specifications over time and improves the overall system efficiency within the Deming cycle perspective. Furthermore, it integrates with Artificial Intelligence and the smart grid. The Building Management System also serves as an enabling platform for informing occupants to achieve a high level of Sustainable and Responsible Investment.

Adhesive bonding has been increasingly used for seismic retrofit and repair recently. However, the interaction between bolt and bonding joints is not clear in detail. This study focuses on the hybrid joint method using adhesive bonding and high-strength bolts for the single-shear lapped joint to improve joint strength. Three experimental parameters, with or without adhesive, bonding area, and bolt tension, were adopted. The results show that the connection strength can be effectively increased by adhesive. Moreover, the effective adhesive area and strength evaluation formulas are proposed through the cohesion failure behavior.

A mudança radical no paradigma de como armazenamos e produzimos energia traz consigo novos desafios e oportunidades para desenvolvimento de tecnologias, a transição da matriz energética baseada em combustíveis fosseis para energias renováveis como a eólica e solar e a substituição de motores a combustão por veículos elétricos demanda o desenvolvimento de novos sistemas de armazenamento de energia que possuam viabilidade técnica, econômica e principalmente ambiental. Dentre os principais candidatos para o desenvolvimento de novas baterias e supercapacitores que consigam oferecer maior autonomia e menor custo estão os óxidos de metais de transição que devido a sua riqueza química e estrutural proporcionam o armazenamento de energia de diversas formas diferentes sendo capaz criar um sinergismo entre processos químicos e físicos para oferecer maior densidade de potência e densidade de energia. Destacam-se entre os óxidos de metais de transição o óxido de vanádio (V2O5), óxido de nióbio (Nb2O5) e óxidos de manganês (MnOx) que além de serem recursos estratégicos nacionais tiveram recentemente o interesse científico revigorado com o advento de novas formas de armazenamento/conversão de energia. Esta tese apresenta estudos iniciais sobre a viabilidade técnica da combinação destes recursos que são amplamente disponíveis no Brasil na aplicação de novos dispositivos para armazenamento de energia como baterias e capacitores híbridos, em especifico esta tese demonstra o desenvolvimento de um eletrodo anódico binder-free composto de óxido de vanádio modificado com nióbio para uso em células íons-Li e ensaios sobre a viabilidade do aumento de escala na produção deste. Além disso a tese explora novos materiais baseados nos sistemas MnOx-NbOx e VOx-NbOx e seu respectivo uso em capacitores híbridos e catodos de células íons-Li.

Abstract This article investigates the adaptive finite time tracking control problem for quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (QUAV) subject to actuator failure with event‐triggered control strategy. It is assumed that the models of actuator failure are actuator blockage and saturation faults. The finite time performance function and adaptive backstepping method are combined to design the controller to compensate the influence of actuator failure, so as to ensure that the tracking error converges to the preset neighborhood near the origin in finite time. In addition, a new event‐triggered strategy is introduced to save communication resources and avoid the Zeno‐behavior, which defines the variable threshold as a function combining with tracking error and positive constants. The variable threshold not only effectively reduces triggering times, but also makes the design of the controller more flexible. It is proved that the closed‐loop system is stability. Finally, the effectiveness of this method is verified by simulation.

El theremin es un instrumento musical con un halo algo fantástico porque se ejecuta sin tocarlo. Simplementealejando y acercando las manos a ciertas antenas se varían la frecuencia y el volumen del sonido. Sufuncionamiento se explica completamente con la física de finales del siglo XIX. En este artículo se trata demostrar, sin el requerimiento de avanzados conocimiento de electrónica, cómo es la base física del funcionamientodel theremin tal como fue concebido por su inventor Lev Serguéyevich Termén. Muchos de estos instrumentosmodernos funcionan con los mismos principios, pero con componentes electrónicos semiconductores en lugar delos componentes clásicos que desempeñaban las mismas funciones en los principios del siglo XX. Está dirigido amúsicos y a lectores con conocimientos elementales de física, por lo que los detalles técnicos han sidosimplificados sin perder la justificación de su funcionamiento, u omitidos cuando fueron innecesarios.

A two-bed pressure swing adsorption system on a commercial type of zeolite 13X adsorbent has been studied numerically over a wide range of operating conditions to helium separation from gaseous mixture. The model includes energy, mass and momentum balances. The coupled partial differential equations are solved using fully implicit forth order Rung-Kutta scheme in the simulation. The effects of adsorption step pressure, adsorption step time and feed flow rate on the helium purity and recovery were investigated. Results shown that as the adsorption step pressure increases the helium purity will be increased. In addition, the helium recovery increases, and the helium purity decreases when the feed flow rate increases. Finally, the simulation results indicated a very good agreement with some current literature experimentally work.