Browse Articles

Flow regime transitions in flow blurring injection through a CFD parametric study

Abstract Flow-blurring (FB) is a twin-fluid atomization technique that generates fine sprays through internal turbulent mixing. This study presents a parametric computational investigation of an FB injector operating with air and various liquids at ambient pressure. A validated unsteady two-phase solver based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is used to model the injector at different air-to-liquid mass flow rate ratios (ALRs). Parameters such as penetration length, volume fraction, static pressure, vorticity magnitude, and turbulent kinetic energy are analyzed to understand flow dynamics. The results identify three distinct flow regimes: air-dominant, liquid-dominant, and bubbly flow. Screening analysis of a full factorial design of 32 cases shows that liquid mass flow rate and dynamic viscosity are the most influential factors in penetration length. The resulting penetration length varies between 2 [mm] and 8.5 [mm] across the design space. A correlation analysis confirms these findings and reveals important two-way interactions between parameters, such as the positive effect of combined liquid and air mass flow rates. This insight offers a promising pathway for optimizing flow-blurring injectors in various applications.

Drought-Induced genomic and epigenetic variations in Quinoa genotypes revealed by iPBS and CRED-iPBS marker systems

Neonicotinoids and Varroa mites force a bee colony to forget the extending of longevity during overwintering

Stellate ganglion irradiation alleviates airway inflammation in asthmatic mice via activating SIRT1 signaling pathway

Self compacting concrete with recycled aggregate compressive strength prediction based on gradient boosting regression tree with Bayesian optimization hybrid model

Constructing a nomogram for short-term prognosis in postoperative patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a two-center retrospective study

Validated thermal model for bacterial survival in fire-resistant self-healing concrete

Abstract Bacteria-based self-healing concrete offers a sustainable solution to extend the service life of infrastructure by autonomously sealing cracks through microbial calcium carbonate precipitation. However, under fire conditions, the survival of encapsulated bacteria remains uncertain due to extreme temperatures that compromise biological activity and structural integrity. This study introduces a validated heat transfer model to estimate how long encapsulated bacteria can survive during fire exposure following ISO 834 conditions. The model incorporates radial heat diffusion, thermal properties of multi-layer encapsulation, and bacterial inactivation thresholds. Experimental data from our earlier study, including additional unpublished experimental insights, are used to validate the model across temperatures ranging from 200 °C to 800 °C. Simulations showed that carbon fiber-cement paste encapsulation can slow heat entry and help bacteria survive for nearly 20 h at 200 °C and about 4 h at 800 °C. In contrast, gelatin-based encapsulations degraded rapidly and failed to protect bacteria beyond 200 °C. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that encapsulation thickness critically influences survival, with layers ≥ 1.75 mm providing significantly longer protection. This modelling framework, validated using prior experimental results on bacterial viability under fire exposure, provides a predictive basis for evaluating microbial survival in self-healing concrete systems employing multilayer encapsulation. The findings provide practical insights into optimizing encapsulation strategies to preserve bacterial functionality and enable post-fire self-healing in concrete structures.

Generating human facial animation by aggregation deep network and low-rank active learning with table tennis applications

A redox–auxin connection in response to water deficit

Novel feature-based method for multi-modal biomedical image registration compared to intensity-based technique

Abstract Multimodal image registration plays a crucial role in biomedical research, enabling the integration of complementary information from different imaging techniques. We present a novel feature-based approach for multimodal image registration, alongside traditional intensity-based methods. Our method, inspired by SPP-net architecture, employs multi-level feature extraction for robust image alignment. Additionally, we perform t-SNE dimensionality reduction on the MALDI-MSI dataset to enhance feature discrimination and visualization. We evaluated both approaches using datasets from the ANHIR Grand Challenge and mass spectrometry imaging modalities (LA-ICP-MS and MALDI-MSI). The proposed feature-based method achieved comparable accuracy to optimized intensity-based approaches, with Dice Coefficients of 0.95 for ANHIR samples (e.g., COAD_05) and 0.97 for mass spectrometry data, while requiring approximately 50% less computational time. Quantitative evaluation through Mutual Information metrics and Hausdorff Distance demonstrated high registration accuracy across different tissue types and imaging modalities. These results establish our feature-based approach as an efficient alternative to traditional intensity-based methods for multimodal image registration in biomedical applications.

Kleptomaniac sea slugs steal their greens

A lightweight transformer based multi task learning model with dynamic weight allocation for improved vulnerability prediction

Predicting major amputation risk in diabetic foot ulcers using comparative machine learning models for enhanced clinical decision-making

Resveratrol aggravated H2O2-induced the HK-2 cell damage by inhibiting AKT phosphorylation

Aims Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can induce renal damage when renal ischemia-reperfusion occurs as a result of factors such as renal transplant and shock. It is well established that oxidant damage plays an important role in the mechanism of ischemia-reperfusion. Resveratrol (RSV) is known for its antioxidant properties. However, in our investigations we found that RSV could aggravate human proximal tubular cells (HK-2 cells) damage when exposed to H2O2. Consequently, our findings suggested that RSV may potentially aggravate renal damage in the context of renal ischemia-reperfusion. Methods CCK-8 reagent kits were utilized to assess cell proliferation. Western blot analysis was employed to determine the expression level of protein about γ-H2ax, PTEN, AKT, P-AKT and Cleave-caspase3. Additionally, the process of apoptosis was examined using flow cytometry. Result The CCK-8 assays results revealed a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation when HK-2 cells were exposed to varying concentrations of H2O2. Furthermore, when HK-2 cells were cultured with 250uM H2O2 and different concentrations of RSV, the CCK-8 results indicated a significant reduction in HK-2 cell viability with increasing RSV dosage. Flow cytometry analysis of HK-2 cells exposed to 250uM H2O2 and 10uM RSV demonstrated that RSV exacerbated apoptosis in H2O2-induced HK-2 cells. Western blot analysis revealed that RSV inhibited the expression of P-AKT and exacerbated damage to H2O2-induced HK-2 cells. Subsequently, we selected 10uM MK for further investigation, with CCK-8 results showed a significant reduction in HK-2 cell viability when the AKT phosphorylation process was inhibited by MK. Western blot analysis indicated that the cleave-caspase-3 was further activated when the AKT phosphorylation process was inhibited by MK. Flow cytometry demonstrated a significant increase in the apoptosis of HK-2 cells when the AKT phosphorylation process was inhibited by MK. In the case of P-AKT overexpression, Western blot analysis showed a significant increase in P-AKT expression, while a significant decrease in cleave-caspase-3. Flow cytometry revealed a significant decrease in the apoptosis of HK-2 cells. Finally, Western blot analysis demonstrated a decrease in P-AKT levels along with the expression of PTEN. Conclusions Our research substantiated that RSV could aggravate H2O2 induced HK-2 cells damage by upregulating the expression of PTEN and inhibiting AKT phosphorylation. It suggested that RSV may deteriorate renal damage in the context of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury.

How getting tenure changes researchers’ publication habits — and citations

Spatiotemporal patterns of water and vegetation in Poyang Lake from 2013 to 2021 using remote sensing data

Continuous monitoring and research on Poyang Lake is essential to understand its ecological dynamics and promote sustainable development. Spatial and temporal dynamic monitoring and analyses of vegetation changes in the water body of Poyang Lake are still limited. This study fills this gap by using remote sensing and GIS techniques for dynamic monitoring and analysing the changes of water bodies and vegetation in Poyang Lake from 2013 to 2021. We used a combination of Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) to preprocess and classify 42 Landsat 8 OLI images. The results showed that the stability of the water body and vegetation varied greatly, with the water body showing the obvious change pattern of water rises, vegetation recedes and water recedes, vegetation grows, and the high-frequency inundation area was concentrated in the northeastern part of the lake (accounting for 60% of the total inundation area). Vegetation frequency distribution showed a pattern of sparse in the north and dense in the south, with the middle frequency area being the most, accounting for 19.88%, and the low frequency area being the least, accounting for 16.09%. The results show that the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of water body and vegetation in Poyang Lake show low stability, which is a highly dynamic ecosystem. This study relatively makes up for the missing analysis of the stability change of water body and vegetation in the cycle of Poyang Lake, and provides a solid scientific basis for the protection and sustainable management work.

Factors affecting quality of life in connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease

Background Connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) results in an unrelenting symptom burden and may progress to death. The morbidity and mortality associated with CTD-ILD likely has a profound impact on individuals’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The factors associated with HRQOL in other chronic lung diseases have been described, but because of the different clinical and demographic characteristics of CTD-ILD, it is unknown if these same factors are associated with HRQOL in CTD-ILD. Research questions What is the association between patient demographic and disease characteristics, symptoms, and HRQOL in CTD-ILD? Study design and methods A cross-sectional design was used to describe HRQOL in CTD-ILD utilizing a secondary data analysis from the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry (PFFPR). Data extracted included demographic (age, gender, and race) and disease characteristics [type of CTD-ILD, duration of disease, forced vital capacity (FVC), supplemental oxygen, immunosuppressant medication use, and pulmonary rehabilitation]. Questionnaires were used to evaluate HRQOL and symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, and fatigue. Results The majority of participants were female (66%), white (78%), had a disease duration of 1–3 years (30%), had scleroderma (25%). The average age was 61 years and FVC of 67% predicted. The majority of participants were not on supplemental oxygen (62%), taking immunosuppressive medications (66%), or active in pulmonary rehabilitation (89%). Female gender, lower FVC, supplemental oxygen use, pulmonary rehabilitation participation, shortness of breath, cough, and fatigue were all correlated with poorer HRQOL. Shortness of breath mediated the relationships between HRQOL and the factors of gender, FVC, supplemental oxygen use, and pulmonary rehabilitation. Fatigue mediated the relationship between HRQOL and pulmonary rehabilitation. Interpretation Disease severity, symptom burden, gender, and disease treatments are associated with poor HRQOL. Recognition of these factors, treating symptoms, and consideration of palliative care may impact HRQOL in CTD-ILD.

A computational Evo-Devo approach for elucidating the roles of PLETHORA transcription factors in regulating root development

PLETHORA (PLT) transcription factors play essential roles in regulating various developmental processes in plants, including embryogenesis, rhizotaxis, phyllotaxis, and most prominently, root development, by regulating cell proliferation and differentiation along the root. Despite their important roles in plant development, PLT transcription factors have mainly been studied in Arabidopsis thaliana and only a few crop species. A. thaliana has six PLT genes, which are expressed in overlapping domains and have partially redundant activities, with numerous shared target genes. Here we identified putative PLT orthologs across Viridiplantae, including representatives of all extant plant clades, reconstructing the molecular phylogeny of PLTs and integrating synteny and microsynteny analyses. We suggest that PLTs arose by neofunctionalization prior to the divergence of Spermatophyta and that they might regulate their target genes in a context-specific manner given the presence of intrinsically disordered regions at their N- and C-termini. After identifying direct PLT targets in public databases, we inferred a gene regulatory network driven by PLTs in the root apical meristem in six angiosperm species. Our results suggest that the direct PLT targets regulate ribosome and ribonucleoprotein biogenesis as well as RNA processing, among other basic cellular processes. The central relevance of these processes may account for the high conservation and stability of PLT-driven gene regulatory networks across angiosperms.

China is boosting its Antarctic research. What does that mean for the world?

Prioritizing the bottom line over people in a crisis: How leader behavior affects employee psychological distress under economic threat

Aim This study examines the impact of direct supervisors’ leadership on employee psychological distress during crises. Specifically, it explores the relationship between people-oriented and bottom-line-mentality informed leader behaviors and employee psychological distress. The study further hypothesizes that employees’ sense of control functions as a psychological mechanism in this relationship and that this indirect effect is moderated by personal and national economic threat, both of which are particularly salient during crises. Method A quantitative survey was conducted in three waves among 854 employees across Europe (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) during the COVID-19 pandemic, a highly salient global crisis. Results Findings indicate that employees with people-oriented leaders report lower psychological distress, mediated by an enhanced sense of control. In contrast, bottom-line-mentality informed leadership is associated with a diminished sense of control, and further with greater psychological distress. These effects are exacerbated under higher personal and national economic threat. Conclusion This study advances understanding of how constructive and destructive leadership behaviors influence employees’ psychological well-being during crises, particularly under economic strain. The findings provide actionable insights for leaders, organizations, and policymakers on mitigating employee psychological distress through leadership strategies that foster a sense of control.