Browse Articles

Localized surface plasmon resonance sensing of hydrogen sulfide using zinc oxide film

Abstract A localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensor for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been developed by coating a gold nanopattern with zinc oxide (ZnO) film. H2S detection was achieved by monitoring changes in absorbance at a specific wavelength in the LSPR spectrum. The absorbance increased during exposure to H2S and remained constant after H2S ceased. These responses indicate that the sensor can measure the integrated concentrations of H2S. The sensitivity to H2S was enhanced with increasing relative humidity, enabling detection of 0.05–3 ppm H2S within 10 min at 70% relative humidity. The sensor’s sensitivity and LSPR spectrum could be restored by heating it at 500 °C in air. Notably, the sensor did not respond to methyl mercaptan or dimethyl sulfide, demonstrating high selectivity for H2S. This study highlights the potential of the ZnO-deposited LSPR sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of H2S.

Stress granules attenuate protein nanoparticle induced osmotic imbalance via membrane potential restoration

Decomposition rate and property changes of deadwood across an altitudinal gradient: a case study in the Babia Góra Massif, Poland

Abstract The decomposition of deadwood is a key process in the biogeochemical cycle of forests, affecting water retention, soil structure and biodiversity. The aim of this study is to understand how the rate of deadwood decomposition changes depending on the location in the altitude gradient in mountain forest ecosystems. Additionally, the study investigates how the physical properties of wood vary with elevation. The experiment was conducted on the slopes of the Babia Góra Massif, where wood samples of four species (beech, fir, spruce, maple) were placed at three altitudes (800, 1000 and 1200 m above sea level). After 30 months, laboratory analyses were carried out on the density, porosity, mass loss and hydrophobicity of wood. In the case of coniferous wood (spruce and fir), the decomposition process proceeded at a similar rate across all altitudes, but more slowly compared to deciduous species. In contrast, hardwood decomposed more rapidly at lower altitudes, likely due to higher temperatures, greater microbial activity, and soil conditions more favorable to hardwood-decaying organisms. Wood decomposition led to a decrease in density and an increase in porosity, and hydrophobicity increased with altitude. The study provides new data on the dynamics of wood decomposition in the context of changing thermal and moisture conditions. The results can be used in conservation and management strategies for mountain forests.

Higher levels of plasma phosphatidylcholine (17:0_18:1) raise the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease

Bringing the museum into the hospital to promote cultural wellness in patients undergoing haemodialysis through a virtual reality tour

Deep-learning model for embryo selection using time-lapse imaging of matched high-quality embryos

Skin burns after high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation: a retrospective control study

Trends in surgical indications and causative diagnoses in enucleation from 2007 to 2022

Abstract To evaluate surgical indications and causative underlying diseases in patients undergoing enucleation in a tertiary eye unit. Retrospective analysis of all enucleations performed at the University Eye Hospital of LMU Munich from January 2007 to December 2022. 491 eyes of 491 patients were enucleated in this period; 237 right and 254 left eyes. 59.3% (291) of patients were male, while 40.7% (200) were female. The median patient age at enucleation was 59 years (range 2–99, IQR 43–72). The four most common surgical indications were painful blind eye (318, 64.8%), malignancy (139, 28.3%), disfiguring blind eye (14, 2.9%) and treatment-refractory perforated corneal ulcer (13, 2.6%). There was only one indication for enucleation due to acute trauma (1, 0.2%). Information on causative diagnosis was available from 2013 to 2022 (257). The most common causative diagnoses leading to enucleation were choroidal melanoma (107, 41.6%), status post (s/p) trauma (65, 25.3%), and s/p retinal detachment (17, 6.6%). The annual enucleation count showed a decline from 2007 to 2022. Regarding indications for enucleation there is a negative trend for “painful blind eye” and “malignant tumor”. Our study demonstrates a decrease in the annual number of enucleations between 2007 and 2022. While the causative diagnoses remained unchanged over the last ten years, there was a negative trend in surgical indications due to malignant tumors and painful blind eyes. Only one enucleation was performed due to acute trauma.

State estimation of voltage and frequency stability in solar wind integrated grids using multiple filtering techniques

Abstract The increasing integration of solar and wind energy into modern power grids introduces challenges in maintaining voltage and frequency stability due to their intermittent and uncertain nature. This study evaluates the performance of three advanced state observers: extended Kalman filter (EKF), unscented Kalman filter (UKF), and cubature Kalman filter (CKF) for real-time monitoring and stability assessment in solar and wind-integrated grids (SAWIG). The analysis focuses on estimation accuracy, convergence speed, and classification performance under varying phasor measurement unit (PMU) sampling rates. Simulation results reveal that the CKF achieves the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.005 at a 10 Hz sampling rate, outperforming the UKF (0.007) and EKF (0.010). In terms of dynamic performance, CKF stabilizes within 0.1 s, while UKF and EKF require 0.2 and 0.4 s, respectively. Classification evaluation shows that CKF achieves the highest accuracy of 99.5%, with precision, recall, and F1-score of 99.2, 99.3, and 99.4%, respectively. In contrast, UKF reports values of 98.8, 98.5, 98.7, and 98.6%, while EKF records 97.6, 96.9, 97.1, and 97.3%. Confusion matrix analysis further confirms a classification accuracy of 95% for CKF. These results demonstrate its robustness, speed, and precision in ensuring reliable state estimation for voltage and frequency stability in renewable-integrated smart grids.

Modelling and algorithms of highway transportation network in urban agglomerations

Momentum-locked spin between topological and defect states in 1D patterns on bilayer graphene

Abstract Gating Bernal bilayer graphene breaks the inversion symmetry so that the stacking AB/BA boundaries within the gap reveal topologically protected states. In this study, we theoretically investigate arrays where the AB and BA domains are periodically patterned with experimentally identified defect lines. In the calculations we consider electron-electron interaction effects using density functional theory. Our findings reveal the existence of topological states within a gap induced by the patterning without an applied gate voltage. Furthermore, with an applied gate potential, the defect lines introduce spin-polarized states pinned within the gap and exhibit ferromagnetically coupled states. Importantly, we observe a hybridization of magnetic and topological states near the valleys that form conducting channels characterized by spin-momentum locking. The effect persists even with slight n-doping and gate voltage; however, the progressively pinned n-doped defect states induce spin polarization in the topological and valley states. Additionally, the two-dimensional bands under doping conditions exhibit nesting across the Fermi surface, allowing for modulation of charge densities along the lines which are nearly commensurate with the underlying graphene-defect lines. These quasi-one-dimensional patterns in bilayer graphene show a new kind of spin-conducting channels with novel characteristics common to both spintronics and valleytronics.

Spectrophotometric investigation of cocarboxylase interaction with pyridoxine hydrochloride and their interactional properties

Performance evaluation of enhanced deep learning classifiers for person identification and gender classification

Abstract Person authentication using periocular images is a prominent research domain. Although the biometric identification systems have advanced, the existing approaches still struggle with accuracy, overfitting issues and computational efficiency, especially when utilizing periocular images for person identification and gender classification. In order to overcome these limitations, this paper proposes an enhanced deep learning classifier (EDLC) paradigm to recognize a person based on the periocular region within a face. A novel Hexagon-shaped ROI extraction is performed in the localization phase to extract the periocular ROIs. Following that, the feature extraction mechanism is accomplished utilizing the Laplacian transform. Finally, three distinct custom EDLCs are employed, such as dilated axial attention convolutional neural network, self-spectral attention-based relational transformer net, parameterized hypercomplex convolutional Siamese network for classification. Further, an adaptive coati optimization algorithm is used to adjust the hyperparameters of the classification models. The efficacy of the model is assessed concerning different outcome indicators. It is also compared with the recent competitive models. For person identification, the SSA-RTNet has achieved a maximum accuracy of 99.8% and 99.67% using the UBIPr and UFPR datasets respectively. Similarly, for gender classification, an accuracy of 98.4% and 99.68% using SSA-RTNet was obtained for the UBIPr and UFPR datasets. As a result, it is perceived that a considerable improvement was observed using the enhanced models.

Impact of Gaura parviflora invasion on urban wildness biodiversity: a campus green patch case study

The analysis of the progressive local failure process of the Longquan Reservoir dam based on the global-local dynamic strength reduction method

Abstract During the progressive failure process of the slope (dam), the strength parameters of the soil in the slope (dam) continuously degrade, with the degree and rate of degradation of the soil near the shear zone significantly exceeding those in other areas. To address this mechanism, this paper proposes a global-local dynamic strength reduction method that simultaneously accounts for both the physical degradation pattern of the soil and the strain softening characteristics of the shear zone. Taking the Longquan Reservoir Dam as an engineering case, a two-dimensional profile calculation model at station 0 + 142 was established using ANSYS. Combining this model with the global-local dynamic strength reduction method, the progressive local failure process of the dam under heavy rain conditions was simulated. By analyzing the distribution patterns and evolution trends of dam displacement, stress, and plastic strain, the local failure mechanism of the dam was elucidated. The results indicate that the global-local dynamic strength reduction method can effectively captures both the soil’s physical degradation and the shear zone’s softening mechanism, accurately reflecting the failure progression of the dam while maintaining high computational efficiency. The critical strength reduction coefficients required to reach the critical instability state using different methods exceed 1.0, indicating that the Longquan Reservoir Dam is in a safe condition, which is consistent with field observations. The progressive local failure process of the dam shows that heavy rainfall induces persistent degradation of soil strength parameters. Initially, the downstream soil undergoes plastic yielding and shear flow. As the shear failure zone continues to expand, the soil from the mid-upstream shifts downstream, ultimately leading to the collapse at the dam crest and the formation of a continuous shear zone.

Spatiotemporal analysis of CMIP6-based climate extremes and their implications for sustainable watershed management in the Gidabo watershed, Ethiopia

Multihop cost awareness task migration with networking load balance technology for vehicular edge computing

Seasonal disparities in green exposure under the 15-minute city framework: a case study of Xi’an, China

Magnitude and determinants of anemia among patients at Garbo Primary Hospital, Somali Region of Ethiopia

Improved conservation of callus and rhizome microcuttings of Podophyllum hexandrum germplasm using the slow growth storage approach

Abstract Podophyllum hexandrum Royle (syn. Podophyllum emodi Wall.), commonly known as Himalayan mayapple, is an endangered medicinal plant recognized as the primary natural source of podophyllotoxin, a potent compound with anticancer and antiviral properties. In this study, we developed an optimized protocol for the long-term preservation of P. hexandrum germplasm using a slow growth storage (SGS) technique, successfully preserving the viability and genetic stability of both callus and rhizome cuttings. In vitro cultured callus and rhizome microcuttings of P. hexandrum were conserved using the slow growth storage (SGS) technique in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium under cold conditions (5 °C), supplemented with different concentrations of sucrose, mannitol, and sorbitol in combination with calcium pantothenate and spermidine, to induce slow growth and maintain tissue viability. It was observed that sorbitol (5.5%) combined with spermidine (2 mg L−1), calcium pantothenate (3 mg L−1), and 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) (1.5 mg L−1) showed better efficacy than the mannitol (6.5%) combination in preserving and regenerating callus and rhizome microcuttings. In contrast, the combination with sucrose (6.5%) was the least effective. This study developed an effective in vitro protocol for conserving P. hexandrum, an endangered medicinal plant, through slow growth storage. A medium containing sorbitol, mannitol, spermidine (2 mg L−1), and calcium pantothenate (2 mg L−1) enhanced tissue viability, stress tolerance, and long-term survival of callus and rhizome explants while maintaining genetic stability during cold storage. These findings suggest that this protocol provides a reliable approach for the ex-situ conservation of P. hexandrum, ensuring the availability of genetically stable plant material for future research and medicinal use. This is the first report on the germplasm conservation of callus and rhizome microcuttings of P. hexandrum grown in Pakistan using the slow growth technique.