With the increasing demand for sustainable and cost-effective materials, natural fiber-reinforced composites are gaining traction among manufacturers and consumers. This study addresses the growing need for eco-friendly and structurally reliable composite materials. It focuses on the incorporation of bio-waste fillers into epoxy composites reinforced with flax and pineapple...
Holter-ECG monitoring is a critical component of post-stroke diagnostics, guiding cardiac work-up and secondary stroke prevention. Abnormal ECG findings beyond atrial fibrillation (AF) in stroke patients remain understudied. The prospective multicenter MonDAFIS trial randomized patients with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) without known AF to Holter-ECG...
As software pervades more and more areas of our professional and personal lives, there is an ever-increasing need to maintain software and for programmers to efficiently write and understand program code. In the first study of its kind, we analyze fixation-related potentials (FRPs) to explore the online processing of program code patterns that are confusing to programmers, but...
Horizontal Slinky-type geothermal heat exchangers (GHEs) are widely used in ground-source heat pump systems due to their compact layout and low installation cost, yet their performance is often constrained by shallow burial depth and weak internal flow mixing. This study presents a three-dimensional CFD analysis of a horizontal Slinky GHE enhanced with Twisted-tape inserts. The...
This research presents the valorization of Quercus suber L. (cork oak) leaves into an economical and sustainable bio-adsorbent for the efficient removal of methylene blue (MB) from wastewater. Through simple chemical activation with sulfuric acid, this abundant agroforestry waste is transformed into a regenerable activated carbon with remarkable performance. The optimization of...
Protein folding models have revolutionized structure prediction but struggle to capture conformational flexibility. Recent studies perturb inputs or parameters to sample alternative conformations, while diffusion-based approaches generate conformational ensembles directly. While individual generative models have been benchmarked against molecular dynamics (MD) data, a systematic...
The coal seams mined in the Sandaogou Coal Mine are characterized by shallow burial depth, high susceptibility to spontaneous combustion, and near-horizontal occurrence. Surface air leakage not only leads to abnormal gas emissions from the goaf but also results in frequent low-oxygen conditions at the working face. Meanwhile, it increases the oxygen concentration in the composite...
To investigate the concurrent physiological response to extreme endurance exercise by examining inflammatory, hemorheological, endothelial, and vascular adaptations following an ultramarathon. Twelve runners (9 men/3 women; 48 ± 7 years) participating in a 230-km non-stop ultramarathon were assessed before and immediately after the race. Systemic inflammatory and oxidative stress...
The identification and classification of different magnetic states are essential for understanding the complex behavior of magnetic systems. Traditional approaches that rely on handcrafted features or manual inspection often fall short, particularly when dealing with subtle or topologically complex spin textures. In this study, we present an automated deep learning model that...
Based on the InVEST and RUSLE models, and using 5 km × 5 km and 10 km × 10 km grid cells as well as counties as analysis units, this study assessed grain production, water yield, soil conservation, and carbon sequestration services in the middle reaches of the Yellow River (MRYR) in 2000, 2010, and 2020, and analyzed their spatiotemporal changes and trade-off/synergy...
The physicochemical properties of pesticides specifically solubility, volatility, and molecular structure are the primary factors determining their mobility. These factors govern their movement within the plant and their transport through the soil. The present work evaluated how variation in physicochemical properties influences the adsorption and leaching behavior of nine...
We introduce Thermodynamic Natural Gradient Descent (NGD-T), an optimizer that enforces a physical speed-cost constraint by combining Fisher-preconditioned updates with a dissipation-aware step-size regulator. While natural gradient methods are known to follow the steepest descent direction in information geometry, we provide a thermodynamic reinterpretation: Natural Gradient...
As there is a lack of reliable structural outcome parameters for posterior uveitis trials, we compared inter-rater reliability (IRR) of chorioretinal lesion area measurement (quantitative analyses) and characterization (qualitative analyses) on color fundus photography (CFP) and multimodal fundus autofluorescence (FAF). In this prospective cohort study, posterior uveitis eyes...
Robotic path planning is a fundamental requirement for autonomous navigation, where a robot must reach a target while avoiding obstacles and producing a feasible, smooth, and efficient trajectory. This paper presents SHARP, a hybrid metaheuristic planning framework based on Particle Swarm Optimization, Sine Cosine search, and lightweight Nelder–Mead simplex refinement. The...
This study presents a mineralogical and geochemical investigation of Egyptian black sand deposits to constrain their provenance, depositional controls, and economic potential. Representative samples were collected from the Mediterranean North Coast (Dieba, Damietta, Rosetta, and Balteem) and from the Southern Sinai (Abu Zenima and Nebq). A multidisciplinary approach was applied...
Lifestyle improvements can bring individual and societal benefits. Most interventions are standardized; however, personalized interventions may be more effective. We examined the effect of a personalized app‑based lifestyle intervention, with or without monthly coaching, on physical activity, diet, alcohol, sleep, stress, and smoking, in a three‑month randomized controlled trial...
Although major advances have been made in the field of mesoscopic imaging and associated tissue clearing protocols, these applications are greatly challenged when applied to imaging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tissue. Most importantly, penetration of labelling agents, typically antibodies, can be drastically reduced from the characteristically dense PDAC stroma. To...
Evaluating driver proficiency remains a fundamental determinant of road safety, regulatory adherence, and public confidence in licensing systems. This paper presents the Smart Driving Test System (SDTS), a fully integrated, sensor-based, microcontroller-driven framework designed to automate and standardize the assessment of driving skills. A functional prototype demonstrates SDTS...
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to one of the largest population displacements in Europe since World War II. Different from other recent refugee flows, Ukrainian refugees are predominantly women, often separated from partners who remained behind. Using data from the “IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP Survey on Refugees from Ukraine in Germany,” this cross-sectional study examines...
Recently, researchers focused on utilizing agricultural waste, such as rice straw, to prepare eco-friendly green compounds that have industrial applications, rather than burning it, which leads to environmental problems. In this study, a new Mn (lignin/silica/fatty acid) nano-hybrid Mn(LSF) was deposited from the black liquor of rice straw and then mixed with epoxy to prepare...
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has resulted in the need for the development of alternative strategies for combating pathogens and growth promotion of poultry, including the use of plant-derived compounds such as hop (Humulus lupulus) isolates. The present study evaluates the correlation patterns of the biological activity of five major hop isolates (humulone, lupulone...
The rising growth of agricultural waste poses significant challenges to environmental sustainability, community health, and commercial stability. However, the development of multifunctional bio-based additives that simultaneously provide reinforcement and antioxidant performance in natural rubber (NR) composites remains limited. This study examines the potential of an aluminum...
This study reports on the structural, optical, and magnetic properties of Cr-doped ZnO nanorods (NRs) fabricated via a one-step electrochemical deposition process. The impact of Cr3⁺ doping was systematically investigated across concentrations of 0.00, 0.1, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9 mM, with the resulting samples labelled S0, S1, S2, S3, and S4, respectively. The XRD confirmed the...
Epidural fibrosis (EF) refers to the non-physiological scar formation at the site where a surgical incision is made to access the spinal canal. This condition often results in functional disability and pain following spinal surgery and is a common and difficult-to-treat contributor to Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of...
Physical activity (PA) levels in Sub-Saharan Africa are declining due to technological advancements that reduce physical exertion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal associations between occupational, leisure, and transport-related PA, as well as sedentary time, on weight and the likelihood of developing a non-communicable disease (NCDs) in Kenya. The study...