**6. Bacteriuria**

Comparative studies are difficult to perform in these patient groups due to different definitions of bacteriuria and urinary tract infection, different urinary tract drainage methods, as well as the severity of acute, subacute, chronic, or total and partial lesions. In 1992, according to the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research, severe bacteriuria is defined as the number of colony counts of 102 CFU uropathogenic micro granules per ml of urine in samples taken by catheterization, 104 CFU/ml urine samples under pure micturition and any detectable uropathogenic concentration in samples from permanent catheter or supraventricular puncture. Other researchers continue to regard the concentration of 105 CFU/ml in urine as a criterion for significant bacteriuria even in samples after catheterization [73]. Waites et al. reported that patients with 10 CFU/ml in urine have a 10% risk of a febrile episode, while the presence of pyuria is more associated with fever and shivering [73]. In patients receiving 40% IC, the source of bacteriuria was the upper urinary tract, while in 60%, the source was the lower urinary tract [74]. Pyuria was much higher in patients with upper urinary tract infection [75].

**9. Bladder catheterization**

**10. Biofilm management**

Efforts to eliminate bacteriuria due to the use of permanent or intermittent catheterization have no effect. Intensive or continuous catheterization is a frequent but not documented method of treatment to prevent sedimentation, bacteriuria, urinary tract infection and/or bacteremia. Intravenous administration with neomycin/polymyxin has no effect. Spinal hygiene, perineal wash, and frequent catheter changes have found ineffective methods in reducing urinary tract infection due to catheterization [82]. In addition, it is important for both coating and catheter composition. Prevention of *P. aeruginosa* biofilm formation is observed using silver-coated catheters [83].

Urinary Tract Infections in Neuro-Patients http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79690 69

As mentioned above, a general feature of the microorganisms that form the bio-membranes is their resistance to various antimicrobial substances, as opposed to free-flowing cells. The main objective should prevent biofilm formation by the prophylactic administration of antibiotics and strict adherence to antisepsis rules when attaching any prosthetic material and in this case a catheter. It is also proposed to incorporate antimicrobial agents into the material to be implanted and to modify the physical or chemical properties of the material so as not to favor biofilm formation.

To achieve satisfactory penetration of antimicrobial drugs into the bio-membrane, experimentally liposomal forms of drugs have been tested with encouraging results. Reid et al. claimed that the daily use of cranberry helmet juice drastically reduced the formation of biofilm and reduced the adhesion of Gram-negative and -positive microorganisms to bladder cells [84]. Respectively, in more recent studies and post-analysis, the clinical benefit of using cranberry juice to reduce urinary tract infections appears to be limited to recurrent urothelial infections

The use of antimicrobial drugs for the prevention of UTIs in people who have intermittent catheterization or carry an indwelling bladder catheter has some positive results. In some studies, prophylactic antibiotics are reported to be effective. The use of methenamine orally and intake of acidic substances contributes to the reduction of urinary tract infection in the case of intermittent catheterization [87]. A low dose of ciprofloxacin appears to be more effective than placebo in preventing urinary tract infection [88]. In a study, administration of the 500 mg twice daily dose for 10 days reduced the incidence of Gram-negative organisms in the perineum and urethra but ciprofloxacin-susceptible microorganisms were replaced by resistant microorganisms such as staphylococci, including methicillin-resistant *S. aureus*, Enterococci and Acinetobacter spp. [89]. In contrast to the above, comparative studies of prophylactic administration of ascorbic acid, TMP-SMX, nalidixic acid, methenamine hippurate, or nitrofurantoin microcrystals to prevent urinary tract infection in patients with SCI did not provide statistically significant results. In a daily use of TMP-SMX study compared to placebo as a prophylaxis for urinary tract infections in SCI patients, the use of TMP-SMX did not reduce the incidence of symptomatic bacteremia while there was an increase in TMP-SMX resistance in asymptomatic patients [90].

in women without neurogenic urinary disorders of young and middle age [85, 86].


**4. Conclusions**

Our present examination of the chemical constituents of the soft coral *S. cherbonnieri* led to the discovery of new cembranoid compounds **1**–**7**. All compounds were found to possess anti-inflammatory activity by exhibiting inhibitory effects on the generation of superoxide anion and elastase release in fMLF/CB-induced primary human neutrophils, and cherbonolides G and H (**2** and **3**) were found to be the most active in the inhibition of elastase release and superoxide anion generation, respectively. As the marine environment is an important source of bioactive substances, and due to the high chemical diversity and specimen diversity of the *Sarcophyton* genus [27,28,34,35], it can be expected that new natural products and activities from soft corals of this genus can be continuously discovered in the future.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/18/11/573/s1. HR-ESI-MS, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, DEPT, HMQC, COSY, HMBC, and NOESY spectra of new compounds **1**–**7** are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/16/8/276/s1. Figure S1: HR-ESI-MS spectrum of **1**; Figure S2. 1H-NMR spectrum of **1** in C6D6; Figure S3. 13C-NMR spectrum of **1** in C6D6; Figure S4. HSQC spectrum of **1** in C6D6; Figure S5. 1H–1H COSY spectrum of **1** in C6D6; Figure S6. HMBC spectrum of **1** in C6D6; Figure S7. NOESY spectrum of **1** in C6D6; Figure S8. HR-ESI-MS spectrum of **2**; Figure S9. 1H-NMR spectrum of **2** in C6D6; Figure S10. 13C-NMR spectrum of **2** in C6D6; Figure S11. HSQC spectrum of **2** in C6D6; Figure S12. 1H–1H COSY spectrum of **2** in C6D6; Figure S13. HMBC spectrum of **2** in C6D6; Figure S14. NOESY spectrum of **2** in C6D6; Figure S15. HR-ESI-MS spectrum of **3**; Figure S16. 1H-NMR spectrum of **3** in C6D6; Figure S17. 13C-NMR spectrum of **3** in C6D6; Figure S18. HSQC spectrum of **3** in C6D6; Figure S19. 1H–1H COSY spectrum of **3** in C6D6; Figure S20. HMBC spectrum of **3** in C6D6; Figure S21. NOESY spectrum of **3** in C6D6; Figure S22. HR-ESI-MS spectrum of **4**; Figure S23. 1H-NMR spectrum of **4** in C6D6; Figure S24. 13C-NMR spectrum of **4** in C6D6; Figure S25. HSQC spectrum of **4** in C6D6; Figure S26. 1H-1HCOSY spectrum of **4** in C6D6; Figure S27. HMBC spectrum of **4** in C6D6; Figure S28. NOESY spectrum of **4** in C6D6; Figure S29. HR-ESI-MS spectrum of **5**; Figure S30. 1H-NMR spectrum of **5** in C6D6; Figure S31. 13C-NMR spectrum of **5** in C6D6; Figure S32. HSQC spectrum of **5** in C6D6; Figure S33. 1H–1H COSY spectrum of **5** in C6D6; Figure S34. HMBC spectrum of **5** in C6D6; Figure S35. NOESY spectrum of **5** in C6D6; Figure S36. HR-ESI-MS spectrum of **6**; Figure S37. 1H-NMR spectrum of **6** in CDCl3; Figure S38. 13C-NMR spectrum of **6** in CDCl3; Figure S39. HSQC spectrum of **6** in CDCl3; Figure S40. 1H–1H COSY spectrum of **6** in CDCl3; Figure S41. HMBC spectrum of **6** in CDCl3; Figure S42. NOESY spectrum of **6** in CDCl3; Figure S43. HR-ESI-MS spectrum of **7**; Figure S44. 1H-NMR spectrum of **7** in CDCl3; Figure S45. 13C-NMR spectrum of **7** in CDCl3; Figure S46. HSQC spectrum of **7** in CDCl3; Figure S47. 1H–1H COSY spectrum of **7** in CDCl3; Figure S48. HMBC spectrum of **7** in CDCl3; Figure S49. NOESY spectrum of **7** in CDCl3.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, J.-H.S.; investigation, C.-C.P.; analysis, C.-C.P. and C.-Y.H.; writing—original draft, C.-Y.H., J.-H.S., and A.F.A.; writing—review and editing, J.-H.S.; anti-inflammatory assay, T.-L.H. All authors read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** Financial support of this work from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST 104-2113-M-110-006, 104-2320-B-110-001-MY2, and 107-2320-B-110-001-MY3) to J.-H.S. and further funding from the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University through research group RG-1440-127.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.


**Conflict of interest**

The author received consultancy fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Ono, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kyorin, and Kissei, and honoraria or research funding from Hisamitsu, Chugai, Ono, Taiho, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and MSD.


**1. Introduction**

318 Neuroimaging – Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience

Zhao, H., Tanikawa, Y., Gao, F., Onodera, Y., Sassaroli, A., Tanaka, K., Yamada, Y., (2002).

*Biol* 47, 12, (Jun 21), pp. (2075-2093), ISSN 0031-9155.

Maps of optical differential pathlength factor of human adult forehead, somatosensory motor and occipital regions at multi-wavelengths in NIR. *Phys Med*

> Until recently, newborns had typically been described as displaying mainly involuntary reactions and clumsy arm movements. However, in recent years investigation of exploratory perception of objects has emerged as key area research. Newborns' hands have often been described as closed or exhibiting either grasping or avoidance reactions which are inappropriate behaviors for holding an object and gathering and processing information (Katz, 1925; Roland and Mortensen 1987; Twitchell, 1965). However, besides possessing manual brief reactions (reflex), newborns are also able to handle small objects and to perceive their properties. To reveal this tactile ability, researchers have applied a habituation-dishabituation procedure to the tactile modality, just as in the visual modality (Streri & Pêcheux, 1986a). This procedure, which is controlled by the infant, is effective in revealing the early perceptual capacities of young babies (cf. Streri, 1993). It unfolds in two phases. The first phase, habituation, includes a series of trials in which the infants receive a small object in one hand. A trial begins when the infant holds the object and ends when the infant drops it or after a maximum duration defined by the experimenter. This process is repeated several times. As a consequence, the habituation process entails several grasps of determined duration (usually between 1 sec to 60 sec of holding). Trials continue until the habituation criterion is met. The newborn is judged to have been habituated when the duration of holding on any two consecutive trials, from the third onwards, totals a third (or a quarter, depending on age) or less of the total duration of the first two trials. Total holding time is taken as an indicator of the duration of familiarization. The mean number of trials taken to reach habituation ranges from four to twelve, and often varies with shape complexity. The decrease in holding times is considered to reveal the infants' ability to perceive and form a memory of the shape and subsequently recognize it. Then, in the dishabituation phase, a novel object is put in the infant's hand. If an increase in holding time of the novel object is observed, it is inferred that the baby is reacting to novelty, having noticed the difference between novel and familiar objects. That these processes reveal a form of mental representation of stimuli is now well established (cf. Pascalis & De Haan, 2003; Rovee-Collier & Barr, 2001).

> Using this experimental procedure, Streri, Lhote, and Dutilleul (2000) showed that full-term newborns (the youngest was 16 hours old) were able to detect differences in the contours of

Intermanual and Intermodal Transfer in Human Newborns:

in accordance with the early maturation of touch.

tactile information (Fabri et al., 2001, 2005).

adults.

Neonatal Behavioral Evidence and Neurocognitive Approach 321

results revealed that when an object is placed in a preterm newborn's hand, holding time decreases trial by trial until the habituation criterion is reached. In the test phase, the experimental group held the novel object significantly longer compared to the preceding two habituation trials, in contrast to the control group in which this was not the case. These results suggest that preterm babies react differentially to a novel shape. These findings are

Taken together, these results show that preterm and full-term babies are able to memorize the shape of an object with each hand. These abilities reflect the very early existence of some internal representation of a stimulus. However, what is the nature of this internal representation? If it has some level of abstraction, newborns should be able to transfer object information from one hand to the other (low level of abstraction) or from one hand to the visual modality (high level of abstraction). Thus, the first goal of this chapter was to show that full-term and preterm newborns are capable of transferring shape and texture information from one hand to the other. The second goal was to show that full-term newborns are capable of transferring information between touch and vision in some, but not all, conditions. These limits or failures may be explained by neuroimaging evidence in

One reason for interest in intermanual transfer is its potential value in assessing communication between the two hemispheres and cerebral plasticity during cognitive development. Sann and Streri (2008a) investigated the inter-manual transfer of shape in twenty-four 2-day-old full-term newborns. After tactual habituation to a shape (prism or cylinder) in one hand, full-term newborns held the familiar shape longer in the opposite hand, and not the novel shape as usually expected in such procedure (Soroka, Corter, & Abramovitch, 1979). But in the same study, infants also exhibited inter-manual transfer of texture (smooth or granular), with a preference for the novel texture in the opposite hand. According to Sann and Streri (2008a), these discrepancies in performance between object properties indicate that the property of shape requires a more abstract and elaborate representation relative to texture. However, given the design of the study, it is not possible to draw definite conclusions about the type of shape information that was transferred: the entire shape of the object, edge information (round vs. angled), or other contrasts or differences. Regardless, these results provided evidence of intermanual transfer of shape in full-term newborns, confirming the hypothesis that the development of the corpus callosum at this stage is sufficient to permit some transfer of shape information between the two hands. Indeed, an fMRI study has demonstrated the essential contribution of posterior corpus callosum to the inter-hemispheric transfer of

Considering that the corpus callosum is less mature in preterm infants than full-term infants (Anderson, Laurent, Woodward, & Inder, 2006) and that very preterm birth (before 33 GW) may be associated with perinatal brain injury including the corpus callosum (Kontis et al., 2009), Lejeune et al. (in press) explored whether preterm infants are capable of inter-manual transfer of shape after the age of 33 GW. Using a classic tactile habituation-dishabituation procedure the authors predicted that after successive presentations of the same object, each preterm infant would show a decrease in holding time regardless of the hand tested or

**2. Intermanual perception of object shape in human newborns**

two small objects (a smoothly curved cylinder versus a sharply angled prism) with both right and left hands. After habituation with one of the two objects placed in the right or left hand, the newborns reacted to novelty when a new object (the prism or cylinder) was put in their hand. This was the first evidence of habituation and reaction to novelty observed with the left as well as the right hand in human newborns. Thus, newborns are able to discriminate between curvilinear and rectilinear contours in small objects. However, this behavior does not show that babies have a clear representation of what they are holding in their hand. Because young infants are unable to perform the integration and synthesis of information in working memory required for haptic exploration, their shape perception is probably partial or limited to the detection of clues such as points, curves, presence or absence of a hole, etc. The information gathered is provided by the enclosure of the object (cf. Lederman & Klatzky, 1987), which seems to be an effective exploratory procedure for these limited purposes. To understand the emergence of these manual abilities in full-term newborns, it is important to recall the early maturation of touch (first among the senses to begin functioning) in the foetal period (from a cephalo-caudal point of view). Tactile receptors can be found in the epithelium of the mouth and the dermis of the peri-oral area as early as 8-9 gestational weeks. Meissner and Pacini corpuscles develop soon after. Tactile receptors are found on the face, the palms and the soles of the feet by 11 weeks. By the 15th week they are found on the trunk and proximal zones of arms and legs, and on the whole skin by the 20th week (Humphrey, 1964). Taken together, these data suggest that this ability to perceive various shapes with both hands observed in full-term newborns may be a "core ability" already present in the foetus. To investigate this hypothesis, the study of this manual ability in preterm babies is relevant and may reveal continuity in sensory functioning between foetal and neonatal periods, by determining whether preterm babies are able to extract information with their hands.

The current World Health Organization definition of premature is a baby born before 37 weeks of gestation, counting from the first day of the last menstrual period, where 40 weeks of gestation is the normal term. Moreover, the viability of foetuses is between 22 and 24 weeks of gestation, depending on the country. Studies about preterm babies and touch have generally focused on pain and developmental concerns (Sizun & Browne, 2005). They have shown that neonates' pain responses are influenced by the number of painful procedures previously experienced by the infant (Johnston & Stevens, 1996). Bartocci, Bergqvist, Lagercrantz and Anand (2006) showed that tactile and painful stimuli specifically activate somatosensory cortical areas. This result indicates that central integration of tactile information occurs in preterm newborns at 28-36 weeks of gestation. A link between hand movements and somatosensory cortical activation has also been shown in preterm newborns at 29-31 weeks of gestation (Milh *et al*., 2007). Recently, Lejeune, Audéoud, Marcus, Streri, Debillon and Gentaz (2010) investigated the ability of preterm babies' hands to discriminate between various shapes. Twenty-four preterm babies underwent a habituation phase followed by a test phase. The entire observation is performed in such a way the newborns cannot see their hands and the held object. In the test phase, twelve babies (experimental group) were tested with a novel object whereas twelve babies (control group) were tested with a familiar object (the one presented during the habituation phase). The shapes used were similar to those used by Streri *et al* (2000): a cylinder and a prism with identical object/hand surface ratio. These objects were smaller than those used by Streri *et al.* (2000) because preterm babies' hands are smaller than those of full term babies. The

two small objects (a smoothly curved cylinder versus a sharply angled prism) with both right and left hands. After habituation with one of the two objects placed in the right or left hand, the newborns reacted to novelty when a new object (the prism or cylinder) was put in their hand. This was the first evidence of habituation and reaction to novelty observed with the left as well as the right hand in human newborns. Thus, newborns are able to discriminate between curvilinear and rectilinear contours in small objects. However, this behavior does not show that babies have a clear representation of what they are holding in their hand. Because young infants are unable to perform the integration and synthesis of information in working memory required for haptic exploration, their shape perception is probably partial or limited to the detection of clues such as points, curves, presence or absence of a hole, etc. The information gathered is provided by the enclosure of the object (cf. Lederman & Klatzky, 1987), which seems to be an effective exploratory procedure for these limited purposes. To understand the emergence of these manual abilities in full-term newborns, it is important to recall the early maturation of touch (first among the senses to begin functioning) in the foetal period (from a cephalo-caudal point of view). Tactile receptors can be found in the epithelium of the mouth and the dermis of the peri-oral area as early as 8-9 gestational weeks. Meissner and Pacini corpuscles develop soon after. Tactile receptors are found on the face, the palms and the soles of the feet by 11 weeks. By the 15th week they are found on the trunk and proximal zones of arms and legs, and on the whole skin by the 20th week (Humphrey, 1964). Taken together, these data suggest that this ability to perceive various shapes with both hands observed in full-term newborns may be a "core ability" already present in the foetus. To investigate this hypothesis, the study of this manual ability in preterm babies is relevant and may reveal continuity in sensory functioning between foetal and neonatal periods, by determining whether preterm babies

The current World Health Organization definition of premature is a baby born before 37 weeks of gestation, counting from the first day of the last menstrual period, where 40 weeks of gestation is the normal term. Moreover, the viability of foetuses is between 22 and 24 weeks of gestation, depending on the country. Studies about preterm babies and touch have generally focused on pain and developmental concerns (Sizun & Browne, 2005). They have shown that neonates' pain responses are influenced by the number of painful procedures previously experienced by the infant (Johnston & Stevens, 1996). Bartocci, Bergqvist, Lagercrantz and Anand (2006) showed that tactile and painful stimuli specifically activate somatosensory cortical areas. This result indicates that central integration of tactile information occurs in preterm newborns at 28-36 weeks of gestation. A link between hand movements and somatosensory cortical activation has also been shown in preterm newborns at 29-31 weeks of gestation (Milh *et al*., 2007). Recently, Lejeune, Audéoud, Marcus, Streri, Debillon and Gentaz (2010) investigated the ability of preterm babies' hands to discriminate between various shapes. Twenty-four preterm babies underwent a habituation phase followed by a test phase. The entire observation is performed in such a way the newborns cannot see their hands and the held object. In the test phase, twelve babies (experimental group) were tested with a novel object whereas twelve babies (control group) were tested with a familiar object (the one presented during the habituation phase). The shapes used were similar to those used by Streri *et al* (2000): a cylinder and a prism with identical object/hand surface ratio. These objects were smaller than those used by Streri *et al.* (2000) because preterm babies' hands are smaller than those of full term babies. The

are able to extract information with their hands.

results revealed that when an object is placed in a preterm newborn's hand, holding time decreases trial by trial until the habituation criterion is reached. In the test phase, the experimental group held the novel object significantly longer compared to the preceding two habituation trials, in contrast to the control group in which this was not the case. These results suggest that preterm babies react differentially to a novel shape. These findings are in accordance with the early maturation of touch.

Taken together, these results show that preterm and full-term babies are able to memorize the shape of an object with each hand. These abilities reflect the very early existence of some internal representation of a stimulus. However, what is the nature of this internal representation? If it has some level of abstraction, newborns should be able to transfer object information from one hand to the other (low level of abstraction) or from one hand to the visual modality (high level of abstraction). Thus, the first goal of this chapter was to show that full-term and preterm newborns are capable of transferring shape and texture information from one hand to the other. The second goal was to show that full-term newborns are capable of transferring information between touch and vision in some, but not all, conditions. These limits or failures may be explained by neuroimaging evidence in adults.


*Editorial* **Computational Intelligence Application in Electrical Engineering**

**Marinko Barukˇci´c 1,\*, Vasilija Šarac 2 and Nebojša Raiˇcevi´c 3**

**\*** Correspondence<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Tel.: +385-31-224-685

Nowadays, scientists and practitioners in the field of electrical engineering observe the increasing application of information technology, computers, and computing techniques. Modern concepts such as smart power grids and smart industries require a multidisciplinary approach and a close connection and synergistic application of IT and computer hardware and software in all areas of electrical engineering. In addition, the application of advanced computational tools is essential for the simulation and modeling of complex electrical systems and devices. The application of computational tools based on numerical mathematical methods has enabled practical calculations in the field of electromagnetic field theory with more realistic models of the devices.

The Special Issue "Computational Intelligence Application in Electrical Engineering" aims to promote the techniques and procedures of computational intelligence for modeling, optimization, simulation, and computation in various fields of electrical engineering. Thanks to the authors' interest in this Special Issue, seven research and review articles were published out of the ten submitted papers.

In the review article [1], the authors provide an overview of the application of computational intelligence methods in power engineering, in particular, the application of computational intelligence in the field of power grids. The article addresses various goals of applying computational intelligence in the area of smart power grids, such as optimal scheduling of distributed generation and optimization of smart power grid management. The remaining published articles are original research papers.

The authors of [2] have proposed a co-simulation approach to solve the very complex optimization problem of optimal allocation of distributed generation assets and power control of controllable distributed generation assets. The optimization problem is of blackbox type, and an artificial neural network is proposed for the distribution of the output power of the distributed generation units.

Paper [3] presents the application of a metaheuristic optimization method for optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays and distance relays in the second zone. The authors developed a modified school-based optimization method as an improvement to the basic version of this optimizer.

In [4], the uncertainty in the scheduling of electricity distribution generation is presented considering the electricity market. The modeling and impact of different uncertainties (in the intensity of primary energy sources as well as in the energy price) at the intraday market level was developed and proposed here.

The improved method for power flow calculations in power systems was developed in [5]. The proposed method uses the Newton- S-Iteration Process and shows advantages over classical power flow methods especially for ill-conditioned systems.

The authors of [6] have developed a procedure for the analysis and optimization of a synchronous motor with line start and asymmetric permanent magnet arrangement in

1

**Citation:** Barukˇci´c, M.; Šarac, V.; Raiˇcevi´c, N. Computational Intelligence Application in Electrical Engineering. *Electronics* **2022**, *11*, 1883. https://doi.org/10.3390/ electronics11121883

Received: 10 June 2022 Accepted: 14 June 2022 Published: 15 June 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

the rotor. The method includes a finite element analysis of the motor using a simulation program. The optimization method is based on a parametric analysis of the steady state and transients of the motor.

The last published article (in chronological order) [7] in the Special Issue deals with the optimal control of induction motors. In the article, the application of a fuzzy controller for the predictive current control of an induction motor was developed. It also presents the optimization of the parameters of the fuzzy controller using a co-simulation approach and a metaheuristic optimization method.

We would like to thank all the authors for their interest and contributions to this Special Issue. We thank the reviewers who contributed to the quality of the presentation of the articles with their constructive comments and suggestions. We thank the editorial board of the journal *Electronics* for the invitation and the opportunity to edit this special issue. A big thank to the editorial board for taking care of the whole process and making sure that everything was ready on time. Our special thanks to Ms. Hebbe Tian, the assistant editor of the Special Issue, for her kindness and timely completion of all the steps in this Special Issue.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.


**Abstract**

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of climate change on intercrops of maize and improved pigeonpea varieties developed. Future climate data for Katumani were downscaled from the National Meteorological Research Centre (CNRM) and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) climate models using the Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) version 4.2. Both models predicted that Katumani will be warmer by 2°C and wetter by 11% by 2100. Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) model version 7.3 was used to assess the impact of both increase in temperature and rainfall on maize and pigeonpea yield in Katumani. Maize crop will increase by 141–-150% and 10–-23 % in 2050 and 2100, respectively. Intercropping maize with pigeonpea will give mixed maize yield results. Pigeonpea yields will decline by 10–20 and 4–9% by 2100 under CSIRO and CNRM models, respectively. Intercropping short and medium duration pigeonpea varieties with maize will reduce pigeonpea yields by 60–80 and 70–90% under the CSIRO and CNRM model, respectively. There is a need to develop heat and waterlogging-tolerant pigeonpea varieties to help farmers adapt to climate change and to protect the huge pigeonpea export market currently enjoyed by Kenya.

**Keywords:** climate change impacts, semi-arid, adaptation, maize yields, pigeonpea varieties


**3. Definitions of enterprise CBIS**

made a key impact on the electronic business (eBusiness) area from both the company and the customer's perspectives, as both have benefited from the emergence of enterprise CBISs with its main goal being to facilitate business transactions using an efficient and effective approach. It is clear that enterprise CBISs offer a more practical and well-defined business model for organizations to compete in the contemporary digital economy [2, 3]. Despite the rapid development of enterprise CBISs, it is noted that in many cases, they are under-utilized

In general, enterprise CBISs can be categorized from various perspectives relating to their utilization: the independent enterprise CBIS, the buyer-oriented enterprise CBIS, the supplieroriented enterprise CBIS, the vertical enterprise CBIS, the horizontal enterprise CBIS and the

This chapter aim is to provide a comprehensive survey on enterprise CBISs in the context of its utilization and customer satisfaction. It covers the concept of the enterprise CBIS, including its background, definitions, challenges, motivations, importance, types and enterprise CBISs research trends. The rest of the chapter is structured as follows: 1) Section 2 provides the background of enterprise CBISs, Section 3 reviews definitions of enterprise CBISs, Section 4 presents the importance enterprise CBISs, Section 5 identifies the strengths and limitations of

The utilization of the digital economy in the late '90s caused the disappearance of intermediaries between customers and vendors. A vendor could sell company goods and services directly to a customer without the need for a middle man [6, 7]. Beside the advance in the growth of the digital economy technologies, novel types of enterprise CBISs were established which contributed new value-added services, attracting many new customers and vendors with extra services that facilitate the required business transactions [4, 8, 9]. The development of enterprise CBISs has changed the way traditional business is performed, resulting in new business models, which were developed in the late 1990s. The enterprise CBIS is the result of employing innovative technology in business processes. Overall, the deployment of enterprise CBISs is associated with the eBusiness process of reengineering, linking IT/IS technologies with traditional businesses [10, 11]. It requires a change of management principles and practical alignment between IT/IS technologies and business processes, all of which should be

While there are many advantages and opportunities for enterprise CBISs [4, 12], cases of the ineffective employment of enterprise CBISs, from both the customers' and vendors' side are reported [6]. If the services of an enterprise CBIS contractor do not add any value to the customer/vendor, in the long term, they will decide that the enterprise CBIS is not the best way for them to conduct business. Lacking an adequate critical mass of customers will lead to the eventual shutdown of that particular enterprise CBIS. Similarly, an insufficient number of buyers in the enterprise CBIS will reduce the incentive for vendors to join the enterprise CBIS, as there will not be enough customers to whom they could advertise their goods or services.

and face early closure due to various technical or cultural obstacles [4, 5].

enterprise CBISs and Section 6 discusses the categories of enterprise CBISs.

considered for the successful implementation of enterprise CBISs.

hybrid enterprise CBIS.

80 Management of Information Systems

**2. Background of enterprise CBIS**

In today's advanced technological world, the problem of eBusiness implementation and utilization remains one of the top concerns of business and IT executives in an organization. There are various definitions of enterprise CBIS in the existing literature, the most prominent ones from the following authors [11, 14–29].

In this chapter, we use the definition of the enterprise CBIS provided by Reynolds et al., who defined it as "a single set of hardware, software, databases, networks, people, and procedures that are configured to collect, manipulate, store, and process data into information" [30]. This definition of the enterprise CBIS is apt for a number of reasons. Firstly, it highlights all the factors involved in the enterprise CBIS research area, representing both 'what' and 'why'. Secondly, it refers to the purpose of these enterprise CBIS factors, including their aims and objectives. Lastly, the definition involves different important players participating in the utilization of enterprise CBISs together with the consideration of its different transactions.


**1. Introduction**

Entrepreneurial decision making is a challenging task. The context in which entrepreneurs make decisions is extreme in various ways: high uncertainties and ambiguities, high consequences, time pressures, emotional anticipation, and reactions (Shepherd et al. 2015). Theory on bounded rationality (Simon 1947) suggests that in these types of decision environments, rational decision-making processes (referred to as system 2 by Stanovich and West 2000) are often pushed beyond their capabilities. When system 2 gets overwhelmed, decisions are dominated by the experiential and intuitive decision-making processes (referred to as system 1). Unfortunately, these system 1 decisions are prone to cognitive biases that can cause irrational decision making. As one solution to cope with the limitations of bounded rationality in organizational decision making, Simon (1947) introduced the idea of the so-called 'administrative man'. The administrative man, or woman, is someone who helps to provide organizations with objective and unbiased information to support decision making.

In line with this, Kahneman et al. (2011) recommend that for critical decisions, such as the introduction of new products, organizational decision makers should seek advice from an external party. Such a third party could contribute to more rational decision making by challenging assumptions and by uncovering potential biases in the decision-making process. A third-party role could therefore be of pivotal value to identify cognitive biases in entrepreneurial decision making (Abatecola et al. 2018, p. 412). External accountants fulfil this role for many small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs. They are frequently sought for advice—and invited to challenge the entrepreneur—when entrepreneurs

face critical decisions (Bennett and Robson 1999; Berry et al. 2006; Blackburn and Jarvis 2010; Suddaby et al. 2002). Therefore, SME accountants are in a unique position to provide insight in the way SME entrepreneurs make decisions across a variety of domains for which they seek the advice of their accountant.

To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to examine biases in entrepreneurial decision making from the perspective of SME accountants. Following a similar approach, in the business research domain of managing complex IT projects, insights from practitioners in a third-party role (i.e., information systems auditors) were used to shed light on cognitive biases (Keil and Robey 1999; Keil et al. 2000; Nuijten et al. 2019). In this study, we propose that this third-party view o ffered by seasoned SME accountants could similarly provide a contribution to extant literature on entrepreneurial decision making.

Results from interviews with 14 Dutch SME accountants, seasoned in this role and who combined have serviced over 3000 SME entrepreneurs over the years, provide a view from a third-party perspective on how these entrepreneurs make decisions. Following a deductive thematic analysis approach, we examine how 12 documented cognitive biases compare to each other in how important they appear to be in SME entrepreneurs' decisions. This comparative view across multiple cognitive biases contributes to the existing body of knowledge since many studies in this domain focus on one or two individual biases in isolation. While extant literature on cognitive biases in entrepreneurial decision making has predominantly focused attention on entrepreneurs' overconfidence, our results suggest that other biases could warrant more research attention as well.

Furthermore, the findings from our study suggest that the importance of many of those cognitive biases on entrepreneurial decisions varies across five decision domains for which entrepreneurs seek advice of their external accountants. These results contribute to the discourse since most of the extant studies depict entrepreneurial decisions as strategic investment decisions (start-up, market entry) or exit decisions. Our results however suggest that entrepreneurs might struggle with cognitive biases across a wider range of critical decisions that involve business risks (other than strictly financial).

Finally, our interviews showed four di fferent approaches (warn, inform, intervene, and coach) that SME accountants take when they encounter cognitive biases in entrepreneurial decision making.

The remainder of our paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, we describe the theoretical background of our study. In Section 3, we discuss how the data for our study were collected and analyzed. Section 4 provides an overview of our research results. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the implications of our study for both research and practice in Section 5.


*2.2.2 High-entropy borides (HEBs)*

The high-entropy borides are designed and fabricated from transition metal diborides, HfB2, ZrB2, TaB2, etc., aiming at developing a new class of ultrahigh temperature metal diboride materials with superior mechanical properties over conventional diborides.

Gild et al. [15] sintered HEBs from five-component equimolar metal diborides via SPS. The fabricated HEBs from compositions like (Hf0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Mo0.2Ti0.2) B2 and (Mo0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2 possess single-phase hexagonal AlB2 structure (**Figure 2**) as the parent metal diborides, with alternating hexagonal metal cations net and rigid boron net in the high-entropy structure. The authors reported that in case of using W2B5 in the starting precursors, single-phase solid solution was not successfully formed. Notably, W2B5 has a different crystal structure with other utilized metal borides, as well as limited solubility in other borides, which could

**Figure 2.**

*The hexagonal AlB2 structure of HEBs by Gild et al. [15] (licensed under CC BY 4.0, https://doi.org/10.1038/ srep37946).*

be potential factors of the formability of single-phase solid solution in the HEB system. The fabricated HEBs show improved hardness and oxidation resistance as compared to the average performances of the constituent borides.

The crystal structure, mechanical, and electronic properties of the HEB (Hf0.2 Zr0.2Ta0.2M0.2Ti0.2)B2 (M = Nb, Mo, Cr) were investigated by Sarkar et al. using ab initio calculations [16]. In the unique layered hexagonal lattice structure shown in **Figure 2**, the metal layer and 2D boron layer contain metallic bonds and covalent bonds, respectively, while both ionic and covalent bond were found between the two hexagonal layers. The high stability of the studied HEBs is contributed by strong boron-boron bond and metal-boron bond. Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations suggested negligible solid solution strengthening effect in elastic modulus, showing similar value with elastic modulus calculated by the mixing rule.

Tallarita et al. [17] synthesized bulk HEB (Hf0.2Mo0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2 by selfpropagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) from elemental metal and boron powders, followed by SPS at 2223 K. High fraction of high-entropy phase with hexagonal (space group P6/mmm) was obtained after the SHS process, along with minor amount of binary diborides and metal oxides. The SHS powders showed good sinterability with a relative density of 92.5% in the SPS product. The sintered HEB exhibits a single-phase hexagonal crystal structure which is similar to the hexagonal AlB2 structure reported by Gild et al. [15], with improved hardness (22.5 ± 1.7 GPa) and oxidation resistance. The authors mentioned that the single-phase structure could not be obtained when performing one-step reactive SPS process with the same reactants.

Based on the developed HEB system, Zhang et al. [18] adopted borothermal reduction process to synthesize high-entropy borides from metal oxides and amorphous boron powder, aiming at producing ultra-fine HEB powder with improved sinterability. The obtained HEB powders (Hf0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Cr0.2Ti0.2)B2, (Hf0.2Mo0.2 Zr0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2, and (Hf0.2Mo0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2 showed an average particle size smaller than 1 μm and led to final relative densities greater than 95% in the SPS products. The sintered HEBs showed ultrahigh hardness values of 28.3, 26.3, and 25.9 GPa, respectively. Compared to the HEBs with same compositions sintered from −325 mesh diboride powders by Gild et al. [15] (about 22 GPa), these HEBs have improved hardness properties as a result of utilization of ultrafine starting particles in SPS.

#### *2.2.3 High-entropy carbides*

The first reported high-entropy carbides were synthesized from transition metal carbides HfC, TaC, ZrC, NbC, and TiC by Castle et al. [19]. Four-component metal

**161**

*High-Entropy Ceramics*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89527*

carbides were mixed in equiatomic ratio using high-energy ball milling and sintered in SPS with a maximum sintering temperature of 2573 K to form high-entropy (Hf-Ta-Zr-Ti)C and (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb)C ultra-high temperature carbides. A singlephase solid solution with a rocksalt crystal structure was formed. More complete inter-diffusion in the formation of single-phase solid solution was found in the (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb)C than (Hf-Ta-Zr-Ti)C system. As the atomic radius of Ti, as well as the lattice parameter of TiC is the smallest among the five starting components, the effect of lattice mismatch among the starting metal carbides on formability of high-entropy solid solution was highlighted. By considering the metal atomic radii, melting points and vacancy formation energy of the carbides, it is believed that TaC, which has the lowest metal vacancy formation energy, acted as the host lattice during the diffusion, while other metal atoms migrate into TaC lattice and occupy the cation positions. The nanoindentation of the fabricated high-entropy (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb) C shows a hardness of 36.1 ± 1.6 GPa, which is 30% higher than the theoretical value calculated from the rule of mixture. Low thermal conductivity was observed in the reported SPS high-entropy carbides. Further investigation on the microstructure, atomic structure, and localized chemical disorder of the fabricated four-component high-entropy (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb)C was reported by Dusza et al. [20]. Homogeneity of the chemical composition in both micro- and nanoscale was proved by various experimental approaches including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD).

The low thermal conductivity and diffusivity behavior were observed by Yan et al. [21] in the five-component high-entropy (Hf0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)C ceramic. The high-entropy carbide was synthesized in SPS at 2273 K and displayed rocksalt crystal structure with the metal atoms occupying the cation positions, while carbon occupied the anion positions in the lattice. The measured thermal diffusivity is reported to be lower than monocarbides and even some of the binary carbides. The increased number of principal elements in the structure led to lattice distortion, mainly through the carbon sublattice, which consequently caused severe phonon scattering. The same high-entropy carbide (Hf0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)C in powder form was synthesized by Zhou et al. [22] via pressureless sintering in SPS.

Entropy-forming-ability (EFA), the first systematic criterion to determine relative propensity of a multicomponent (metal carbide) system to form a high-entropy single-phase crystal structure was introduced by Sarker et al. [23], published on Nature Communication in November 2018. A total of 56 five-component systems from 12 metal carbides (Hf, Nb, Mo, Ta, Ti, V, W, and Zr) were investigated in the work by evaluating the energy distribution spectra of the structures that were generated by the AFLOW-POCC (automatic FLOW partial occupation) [24] algorithm. A narrow spectrum suggests low energy barrier to introduce more configurational disorder, thereby displays high EFA value. The calculation results were verified by synthesizing nine from the 56 compositions in SPS at 2473 K and comparing the experimental and calculation results. The phase identification in **Figure 3** suggested that six compositions MoNbTaVWC5, HfNbTaTiZrC5, HfNbTaTiVC5, NbTaTiVWC5, HfNbTaTiWC5, and HfTaTiWZrC5 that have higher EFA values than the rest three compositions reveals single-phase rocksalt crystal structure after SPS, while secondary phases were observed in compositions HfMoTaWZrC5,

The *ab initio* entropy descriptor invented by Sarker et al. [23] provides a new understanding of the formation of single-phase high-entropy materials and offers a systematic guide for researchers to design high-entropy carbides. Group IV and V carbides are known to have nearly complete mutual solubility; therefore, the formation of single-phase solid solution is relatively probable, attributed to enthalpy stabilization. Meanwhile, the incorporation of carbides with different

HfMoTiWZrC5, and HfMoVWZrC5 with low EFA values.

#### *High-Entropy Ceramics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89527*

*Engineering Steels and High Entropy-Alloys*

**Figure 2.**

*srep37946).*

be potential factors of the formability of single-phase solid solution in the HEB system. The fabricated HEBs show improved hardness and oxidation resistance as

*The hexagonal AlB2 structure of HEBs by Gild et al. [15] (licensed under CC BY 4.0, https://doi.org/10.1038/*

The crystal structure, mechanical, and electronic properties of the HEB (Hf0.2 Zr0.2Ta0.2M0.2Ti0.2)B2 (M = Nb, Mo, Cr) were investigated by Sarkar et al. using ab initio calculations [16]. In the unique layered hexagonal lattice structure shown in **Figure 2**, the metal layer and 2D boron layer contain metallic bonds and covalent bonds, respectively, while both ionic and covalent bond were found between the two hexagonal layers. The high stability of the studied HEBs is contributed by strong boron-boron bond and metal-boron bond. Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations suggested negligible solid solution strengthening effect in elastic modulus, showing similar value with elastic modulus calculated by the mixing rule. Tallarita et al. [17] synthesized bulk HEB (Hf0.2Mo0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2 by selfpropagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) from elemental metal and boron powders, followed by SPS at 2223 K. High fraction of high-entropy phase with hexagonal (space group P6/mmm) was obtained after the SHS process, along with minor amount of binary diborides and metal oxides. The SHS powders showed good sinterability with a relative density of 92.5% in the SPS product. The sintered HEB exhibits a single-phase hexagonal crystal structure which is similar to the hexagonal AlB2 structure reported by Gild et al. [15], with improved hardness (22.5 ± 1.7 GPa) and oxidation resistance. The authors mentioned that the single-phase structure could not be obtained when performing one-step reactive SPS process with the same reactants. Based on the developed HEB system, Zhang et al. [18] adopted borothermal reduction process to synthesize high-entropy borides from metal oxides and amorphous boron powder, aiming at producing ultra-fine HEB powder with improved sinterability. The obtained HEB powders (Hf0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Cr0.2Ti0.2)B2, (Hf0.2Mo0.2 Zr0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2, and (Hf0.2Mo0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)B2 showed an average particle size smaller than 1 μm and led to final relative densities greater than 95% in the SPS products. The sintered HEBs showed ultrahigh hardness values of 28.3, 26.3, and 25.9 GPa, respectively. Compared to the HEBs with same compositions sintered from −325 mesh diboride powders by Gild et al. [15] (about 22 GPa), these HEBs have improved hardness properties as a result of utilization of ultrafine starting

The first reported high-entropy carbides were synthesized from transition metal carbides HfC, TaC, ZrC, NbC, and TiC by Castle et al. [19]. Four-component metal

compared to the average performances of the constituent borides.

**160**

particles in SPS.

*2.2.3 High-entropy carbides*

carbides were mixed in equiatomic ratio using high-energy ball milling and sintered in SPS with a maximum sintering temperature of 2573 K to form high-entropy (Hf-Ta-Zr-Ti)C and (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb)C ultra-high temperature carbides. A singlephase solid solution with a rocksalt crystal structure was formed. More complete inter-diffusion in the formation of single-phase solid solution was found in the (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb)C than (Hf-Ta-Zr-Ti)C system. As the atomic radius of Ti, as well as the lattice parameter of TiC is the smallest among the five starting components, the effect of lattice mismatch among the starting metal carbides on formability of high-entropy solid solution was highlighted. By considering the metal atomic radii, melting points and vacancy formation energy of the carbides, it is believed that TaC, which has the lowest metal vacancy formation energy, acted as the host lattice during the diffusion, while other metal atoms migrate into TaC lattice and occupy the cation positions. The nanoindentation of the fabricated high-entropy (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb) C shows a hardness of 36.1 ± 1.6 GPa, which is 30% higher than the theoretical value calculated from the rule of mixture. Low thermal conductivity was observed in the reported SPS high-entropy carbides. Further investigation on the microstructure, atomic structure, and localized chemical disorder of the fabricated four-component high-entropy (Hf-Ta-Zr-Nb)C was reported by Dusza et al. [20]. Homogeneity of the chemical composition in both micro- and nanoscale was proved by various experimental approaches including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD).

The low thermal conductivity and diffusivity behavior were observed by Yan et al. [21] in the five-component high-entropy (Hf0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)C ceramic. The high-entropy carbide was synthesized in SPS at 2273 K and displayed rocksalt crystal structure with the metal atoms occupying the cation positions, while carbon occupied the anion positions in the lattice. The measured thermal diffusivity is reported to be lower than monocarbides and even some of the binary carbides. The increased number of principal elements in the structure led to lattice distortion, mainly through the carbon sublattice, which consequently caused severe phonon scattering. The same high-entropy carbide (Hf0.2Zr0.2Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2)C in powder form was synthesized by Zhou et al. [22] via pressureless sintering in SPS.

Entropy-forming-ability (EFA), the first systematic criterion to determine relative propensity of a multicomponent (metal carbide) system to form a high-entropy single-phase crystal structure was introduced by Sarker et al. [23], published on Nature Communication in November 2018. A total of 56 five-component systems from 12 metal carbides (Hf, Nb, Mo, Ta, Ti, V, W, and Zr) were investigated in the work by evaluating the energy distribution spectra of the structures that were generated by the AFLOW-POCC (automatic FLOW partial occupation) [24] algorithm. A narrow spectrum suggests low energy barrier to introduce more configurational disorder, thereby displays high EFA value. The calculation results were verified by synthesizing nine from the 56 compositions in SPS at 2473 K and comparing the experimental and calculation results. The phase identification in **Figure 3** suggested that six compositions MoNbTaVWC5, HfNbTaTiZrC5, HfNbTaTiVC5, NbTaTiVWC5, HfNbTaTiWC5, and HfTaTiWZrC5 that have higher EFA values than the rest three compositions reveals single-phase rocksalt crystal structure after SPS, while secondary phases were observed in compositions HfMoTaWZrC5, HfMoTiWZrC5, and HfMoVWZrC5 with low EFA values.

The *ab initio* entropy descriptor invented by Sarker et al. [23] provides a new understanding of the formation of single-phase high-entropy materials and offers a systematic guide for researchers to design high-entropy carbides. Group IV and V carbides are known to have nearly complete mutual solubility; therefore, the formation of single-phase solid solution is relatively probable, attributed to enthalpy stabilization. Meanwhile, the incorporation of carbides with different

#### **Figure 3.**

*(a) The energy distribution spectra of different configurations and the corresponding EFA value of the nine five-metal carbides. (b) The X-ray patterns of the sintered carbides with the same compositions, by Sarker et al. [23] (licensed under CC BY 4.0, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07160-7).*

crystal structures was commonly understood to impede the formation of the highentropy phase because of the mismatch of lattice structure. It was observed that the addition of group VI elements (Cr, Mo, and W) is likely to reduce the chance of forming a single phase, as group VI metal monocarbides are generally demonstrated as non-cubic structure at room temperature. However, the MoNbTaVWC5 composition that simultaneously contains tungsten carbide (W2C) and molybdenum carbide (Mo2C), which exhibit orthorhombic and hexagonal structure, respectively, shows the highest EFA value among the 56 analyzed compositions and demonstrates single-phase FCC structure after SPS. The mechanical properties measured by experiments showed that the Vickers hardness and elastic modulus have significant enhancement compared to the predicted value from the rule of mixture, contributed by mass disorder in the structure and solid solution hardening. Following the work of the pioneers, a systematic study focused on the phase stability and mechanical properties of high-entropy carbides synthesized from group IV, V, and VI metal carbides [25] was carried out. It was verified that carbide system that was stated to have EFA value lower than 45 cannot form single-phase solid solution via SPS.


**Vladimira Dragnea, Giovanni Gonzalez-Gutierrez and Carl E. Bauer**

Structural Analyses of CrtJ and Its B12-Binding Co-Regulators SAerR and LAerR from the Purple Photosynthetic Bacterium *Rhodobacter capsulatus* Reprinted from: *Microorganisms* **2022**, *10*, 912, doi:10.3390/microorganisms10050912 . . . . . . . **195**

### **Nijia Ke and Carl E. Bauer**


Meet the editors

Dr. Arpit Sand is currently an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, at Manav Rachna University, Faridabad, India. He received his BSc in science and MSc in chemistry from the University of Allahabad, India, in 2004 and 2006, respectively, followed by a Ph.D. in chemistry from the same institution in 2010. Dr. Sand's previous roles include assistant professor (guest faculty) in the Department of Chemistry,

University of Allahabad; research associate at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) New Delhi; postdoctoral fellow at Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology (GIST), Korea and at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; junior researcher at Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic; and researcher at Soongsil University, South Korea. Dr. Sand's research interests include polymer synthesis using different polymerization techniques. He has made significant contributions to the modification and characterization of graft copolymers and films decorated with chalcogenide quantum dots to tune the energy band gap for solar energy harvesting applications. Dr. Sand has authored more than 24 international research articles and review articles in SCI journals. He is a member of the editorial boards of *Polymer Synthesis Journal and Journal of Polymer Science* and a reviewer for international journals including *Carbohydrate Polymers, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, and Fibers and Polymers.* He is also a life member of the Indian Science Congress and Green Chemistry Network Center.

Dr. Jaya Tuteja has been an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Manav Rachna University since 2018. She completed her Ph.D. in materials science in 2015 at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), where she obtained an Excellent Doctorate Student award. Prior to her current appointment, she worked in the chromatography industry as a Technical and Application Manager for YMC India

Ltd. Her research interests include the development, characterization and application of heterogeneous catalysts for effective conversion of biomass to value-added products; nanoparticle synthesis and nanoparticle-based heterogeneous catalysts; bimetallic nanoparticles; carbohydrate chemistry; and analytical techniques for compound identification. She has published one book chapter and five research papers in reputed international journals with a cumulative impact factor of >25 and has two patents filed in her name. One of her papers was among the 25 Most Accessed Articles from *ChemSusChem* journal.


**3. Omic technologies**

Several recent developments in instrumentation and protocols have enabled the evaluation of individual genotypes, gene expression, and protein expression. These developments have led to the creation of high-throughput approaches, collectively known as omics technology, that allow researchers to analyze large-scale measurements of genes, polymorphisms, and proteins in a given sample. In this section, we provide a brief description of the use of individual omics technology that are used in T1D research.


*4.2. Geohistory Reconstruction*

We are modeling the geohistory, temperature, and maturity development on two profiles from the Eastern margin of the Central Graben, in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. The first profile (Model 1) is only 11 km long and includes a single salt structure. The second profile (Model 2) is 56 km long and includes five salt structures (see Figure 2 for locations).