Study and analysis of the implementation of 4.0 technologies in the agri-food supply chain: A state of the art

Industry 4.0 is changing the industrial environment. Particularly, the emerging Industry 4.0 technologies can improve the agri-food supply chain throughout all its stages. This study aims to highlight the benefits of implementing Industry 4.0 in the agri-food supply chain. First, it presents how technologies enhance the agri-food supply chain development. Then, it identifies and highlights the most common challenges that Industry 4.0 implementation faces in agri-food’s environment. After that, it proposes key performance indicators to measure the advantages of this implementation. To achieve this, a systematic literature review was conducted. It combined conceptual and bibliometric analyses of 78 papers. As a result, the most suitable technologies were identified, e.g., Internet of Things, Big Data, blockchain and cyber physical systems. The most used indicators are proposed and the challenges of implementation were detected and classified in three groups, i.e., technical, educational and governmental. This paper highlights and exemplifies the benefits of implementing Industry 4.0 facing the lack of knowledge that exists nowadays. Moreover, it fulfils the gaps in literature, i.e., the lack of information about the implementation of technologies 4.0 or the description of the most relevant indicators for Industry 4.0 implementation. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Final Results of GERDA on the Two-Neutrino Double-β\beta Decay Half-Life of 76^{76}Ge

We present the measurement of the two-neutrino double-$\beta$ decay rate of $^{76}$Ge performed with the GERDA Phase II experiment. With a subset of the entire GERDA exposure, 11.8 kg$\cdot$yr, the half-life of the process has been determined: $T^{2\nu}_{1/2} = (2.022 \pm 0.018_{stat} \pm 0.038_{sys})\times10^{21}$ yr. This is the most precise determination of the $^{76}$Ge two-neutrino double-$\beta$ decay half-life and one of the most precise measurements of a double-$\beta$ decay process. The relevant nuclear matrix element can be extracted: $M^{2\nu}_{\text{eff}} = (0.101\pm0.001).$Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Search for tri-nucleon decays of ^{76}Ge in GERDA

We search for tri-nucleon decays of 76Ge in the dataset from the GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment. Decays that populate excited levels of the daughter nucleus above the threshold for particle emission lead to disintegration and are not considered. The ppp-, ppn-, and pnn-decays lead to 73Cu, 73Zn, and 73Ga nuclei, respectively. These nuclei are unstable and eventually proceed by the beta decay of 73Ga to 73Ge (stable). We search for the 73Ga decay exploiting the fact that it dominantly populates the 66.7 keV 73mGa state with half-life of 0.5 s. The nnn-decays of 76Ge that proceed via 73mGe are also included in our analysis. We find no signal candidate and place a limit on the sum of the decay widths of the inclusive tri-nucleon decays that corresponds to a lower lifetime limit of 1.2×1026 yr  (90% credible interval). This result improves previous limits for tri-nucleon decays by one to three orders of magnitude

Search for exotic physics in double-β decays with GERDA Phase II

A search for Beyond the Standard Model double-$\beta$ decay modes of$^{76}$Ge has been performed with data collected during the Phase II of theGERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment, located at Laboratori Nazionalidel Gran Sasso of INFN (Italy). Improved limits on the decays involvingMajorons have been obtained, compared to previous experiments with $^{76}$Ge,with half-life values on the order of 10$^{23}$ yr. For the first time with$^{76}$Ge, limits on Lorentz invariance violation effects in double-$\beta$decay have been obtained. The isotropic coefficient$\mathring{a}_\text{of}^{(3)}$, which embeds Lorentz violation indouble-$\beta$ decay, has been constrained at the order of $10^{-6}$ GeV. Wealso set the first experimental limits on the search for light exotic fermionsin double-$\beta$ decay, including sterile neutrinos.<br

Liquid argon light collection and veto modeling in GERDA Phase II

The ability to detect liquid argon scintillation light from within a densely packed high-purity germanium detector array allowed the Gerda experiment to reach an exceptionally low background rate in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 76 Ge. Proper modeling of the light propagation throughout the experimental setup, from any origin in the liquid argon volume to its eventual detection by the novel light read-out system, provides insight into the rejection capability and is a necessary ingredient to obtain robust background predictions. In this paper, we present a model of the Gerda liquid argon veto, as obtained by Monte Carlo simulations and constrained by calibration data, and highlight its application for background decomposition

LEGEND-1000 Preconceptual Design Report

We propose the construction of LEGEND-1000, the ton-scale Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless $\beta \beta$ Decay. This international experiment is designed to answer one of the highest priority questions in fundamental physics. It consists of 1000 kg of Ge detectors enriched to more than 90% in the $^{76}$Ge isotope operated in a liquid argon active shield at a deep underground laboratory. By combining the lowest background levels with the best energy resolution in the field, LEGEND-1000 will perform a quasi-background-free search and can make an unambiguous discovery of neutrinoless double-beta decay with just a handful of counts at the decay $Q$ value. The experiment is designed to probe this decay with a 99.7%-CL discovery sensitivity in the $^{76}$Ge half-life of $1.3\times10^{28}$ years, corresponding to an effective Majorana mass upper limit in the range of 9-21 meV, to cover the inverted-ordering neutrino mass scale with 10 yr of live time

Nuclear ERK1/2 signaling potentiation enhances neuroprotection and cognition via Importinα1/KPNA2

Cell signaling is central to neuronal activity and its dysregulation may lead to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. Here, we show that selective genetic potentiation of neuronal ERK signaling prevents cell death in vitro and in vivo in the mouse brain, while attenuation of ERK signaling does the opposite. This neuroprotective effect mediated by an enhanced nuclear ERK activity can also be induced by the novel cell penetrating peptide RB5. In vitro administration of RB5 disrupts the preferential interaction of ERK1 MAP kinase with importinα1/KPNA2 over ERK2, facilitates ERK1/2 nuclear translocation, and enhances global ERK activity. Importantly, RB5 treatment in vivo promotes neuroprotection in mouse models of Huntington's (HD), Alzheimer's (AD), and Parkinson's (PD) disease, and enhances ERK signaling in a human cellular model of HD. Additionally, RB5‐mediated potentiation of ERK nuclear signaling facilitates synaptic plasticity, enhances cognition in healthy rodents, and rescues cognitive impairments in AD and HD models. The reported molecular mechanism shared across multiple neurodegenerative disorders reveals a potential new therapeutic target approach based on the modulation of KPNA2‐ERK1/2 interactions