Browse Articles

Optimizing nanomaterial dosages in concrete for structural applications using experimental design techniques

Abstract Nanomaterial-enhanced concrete offers a transformative route to improve mechanical and durability performance for structural applications. Despite the promise of nano-silica (NS), nano-alumina (NA), and graphene oxide (GO), a comparative evaluation under unified conditions remains limited. This study addresses that gap by experimentally investigating the effects of NS (1–3%), NA (1–3%), and GO (0.05–0.15%) on workability, strength, and durability properties of concrete. A two-factor statistical optimization using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to model and predict compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths as functions of nanomaterial and superplasticizer dosages. Experimental results showed that NS and GO achieved a ~ 25% increase in compressive strength, while GO yielded the highest flexural improvement (~ 40%) at only 0.10% dosage. Durability metrics such as RCPT charge passed, water absorption, and sulfate resistance were significantly enhanced across all nano-modified mixes, with NS and GO outperforming NA. RSM confirmed nanomaterial dosage as the dominant factor influencing strength, while superplasticizer had no statistically significant effect. Optimal dosages were identified for each nanomaterial to maximize performance while avoiding overdosing effects. This study provides a comprehensive, optimization-driven comparison of NS, NA, and GO in concrete, offering valuable insights for designing durable, high-performance cementitious systems using tailored nanomodification strategies.

A color image encryption scheme utilizing a logistic-sine chaotic map and cellular automata

Plasmon-exciton strong coupling in an organic material

Coexistence of Borrelia spp. with different tick-borne pathogens in Ixodes ricinus ticks removed from humans in Poland

Abstract Ixodes ricinus tick is a primary vector of Borrelia spirochetes and various tick-borne pathogens in Europe. Multi-species infections are common among ticks, however, the mechanism by which Borrelia spp. coexists with other pathogens within the tick vector is poorly understood. Furthermore, the extent to which Borrelia spp. interact with other pathogens or how multi-species infections influence pathogen loads in ticks and consequently, their transmission success and pathogenicity, remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of co-infections on occurrence and loads of Borrelia spp. and other pathogens in I. ricinus. In the years 2021–2022, we collected 2073 I. ricinus ticks from tick-bitten individuals from around Poland and analyzed individually for the presence of Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia spp. and Bartonella spp. using molecular methods. Loads of pathogens were determined with droplet digital PCR technique. Of the 324 ticks positive for Borrelia spp., 76 were co-infected with at least one different pathogen. We observed higher prevalence of Babesia spp. and N. mikurensis among Borrelia spp. – positive ticks than in ticks uninfected with Borrelia spp. (3.4% vs. 1.3% and 10.2% vs. 4.2% respectively). A similar positive correlation was observed between Babesia spp. and N. mikurensis. Additionally, the loads of N. mikurensis were nearly twice as high in Babesia spp. – positive ticks compared to those not infected with this pathogen. This study is among the first to explore influence of co-infections on pathogen loads in multi-infected ticks feeding on humans. Understanding the relationships between pathogens coexisting in ticks may broaden our insight into epidemiology of tick-borne diseases.

Molybdenum facilitates PDLSC-based bone regeneration through the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway

Dbl2 interacts with helicases and an endonuclease to maintain the integrity of repetitive regions

Design of Block-Scrambling-Based privacy protection mechanism in healthcare using fusion of transfer learning models with Hippopotamus optimization algorithm

Abstract In the human body, the skin is the main organ. Nearly 30–70% of individuals globally have skin-related health issues, for whom efficient and effective analysis is essential. A general method dermatologists use for analyzing skin illnesses is dermoscopy, which permits surveillance of the hidden structures of skin injuries, i.e., an area suffering from an illness whose effects are unseen to the naked eye. Dermoscopy is generally employed for cancers and other kinds of skin cancers with pigment. Yet, access to a dermoscopy is demanding in resource-poor areas and unnecessary for many general skin diseases. So, developing an effective skin disease analysis method that depends upon effortlessly accessible clinical imaging would be helpful and deliver lower-cost, common access to many individuals. Recently, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) approaches have been effectively employed to detect skin cancers in dermatoscopic imaging. The CAD-based techniques will be beneficial for helping professionals detect and classify skin lesions. This paper presents an Advanced Skin Lesion Classification using Block-Scrambling-Based Encryption with a Fusion of Transfer Learning Models and a Hippopotamus Optimization (SLCBSBE-FTLHO) model. The main aim of the SLCBSBE-FTLHO model relies on automating the diagnostic procedures of skin lesions using optimal DL approaches. At first, the block-scrambling-based encryption (BSBE) technique is utilized in the image encryption pre-processing stage, and then the decryption process is performed. The feature extraction process employs the fusion of MobileNetV2, GoogLeNet, and AlexNet techniques. Furthermore, the conditional variational autoencoder (CVAE) method is implemented for skin lesion classification. To optimize the CVAE model performance, the hippopotamus optimization (HO) model is utilized for hyperparameter tuning to ensure that the optimum hyperparameters are chosen for enhanced accuracy. To exhibit the improved performance of the SLCBSBE-FTLHO approach, a comprehensive experimental analysis is conducted under the skin cancer ISIC dataset. The comparative study of the SLCBSBE-FTLHO approach portrayed a superior accuracy value of 99.48% over existing models.

Structural insights and rational design of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 omega transaminases for enhanced biotransformation of (R)-PAC to (1R, 2S)-Norephedrine

Feasibility of recording EEG in the ambulance using a portable, wireless EEG recording system

Objective Triaging acute ischemic stroke patients is difficult in prehospital settings. We investigated if a quickly applicable and compact EEG recording system is usable for stroke patients in the ambulance. Methods The EEG of 10 acute stroke patients from Kuopio University Hospital, Finland was recorded using a forehead EEG electrode set and compact EEG amplifier-recorder during their ambulance transfer to another healthcare facility. The recordings were transmitted wirelessly in real time to our server, and their quality and the interruptions and technical difficulties in the wireless data transfer were analysed. Results In 9 of the 10 recordings, the signal quality was sufficient for interpreting at least half of the recording. The signal quality suffered from artefacts caused by the patients’ movements and the loosening of the electrode contacts. Only 50-Hz AC artefacts that affected the reference electrode were considered obtrusive and required digital filtering in two recordings. Conclusions We demonstrated that adequate-quality EEG can be recorded in an ambulance using a quickly applicable and compact recording system and reliably transferred to a remote server for real-time review. Significance This system can be used to measure EEG in acute indications in the prehospital setting.

Structural design and temperature control enabling high sensitivity nanomaterial-based three-electrode gas sensors

Abstract Ionization based gas sensors using nanomaterials hold significance in monitoring gases but often suffer from issues such as excessive positive ion bombardment, which reduces lifespan, current collection, and detection accuracy. This study introduces a two-dimensional plasma discharge current model based on particle mass conservation, electron energy conservation, and Poisson equations to evaluate the discharge characteristics and electric fields distribution effects on sensor performance across various morphologies and cathode nanomaterial quantities, with experimental validation. The results indicated that the diffusion aperture diameter structure adjustment in sensor electrode surface maintains a high reverse electric field E 1 around the nanotips of the cathode, accelerated maximum positive ions away from nanomaterial, which reduces positive ion bombardment. The novel Φ = 1.2 × 9 mm diffusion aperture sensor with a 150 nm gold nanostructured cathode effectively directed approximately ~ 2/3 of positive ions from the ionization to the collection region, mitigating corrosion and bombardment effects. Compared to previous structure, this novel sensor shows three times greater sensitivity to H2, C2H2, CH4, SO2, NO, and O2, with enhanced detection ranges down to ppm, ppb, and ppt levels.

Molecular dynamics insights into the adsorption mechanism of acidic gases over iron based metal organic frameworks

Multiobjective optimization of external shading for west facing university dormitories in Kunming considering solar radiation and daylighting

A superpixel based self-attention network for uterine fibroid segmentation in high intensity focused ultrasound guidance images

Ursolic and oleanolic acids suppress MNNG induced malignant transformation of human gastric mucosal epithelium by regulating the PI3 K/AKT pathway

Liquid formulation of halo-alkali-thermo-tolerant rhizobacteria for enhanced growth of mung bean crops under abiotic stresses

Construction of evolutionary stability and signal game model for privacy protection in the internet of things

Combined effects of metformin and coenzyme Q10 on doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in male wistar rats

The Ser7 phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II-CTD is required for the recruitment of E3 ubiquitin ligase Asr1 and subtelomeric gene silencing

Reply to Hirbo et al.: The need for large-scale family cohorts and robust analytical frameworks of postexome study

Towards resilience: Transcriptional insights on flavonoid biosynthesis during peanut seed maturation phases

Flavonoids are secondary metabolites widely studied as a metabolic protector against several stressors in plants, yet they are understudied in the events of peanut seed development. Substantial advances in the understanding of peanut seed maturation have been made in recent years, however, the role of flavonoids in this process is unclear. Here, the fundamental question asked was: are flavonoids involved in peanut seed maturation phases? This study investigates whether the main transcripts associated with the flavonoid pathway, such as anthocyanins, are biologically linked to the physiological quality components of peanut seeds during development. For this purpose, peanut seeds classified into five stages (R5, R6, R7, R8 and R9) were used for the evaluation of quality attributes, such as desiccation tolerance, vigor and longevity parameters, and for RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Interestingly, anthocyanins accumulated more in the beginning of the seed filling phase, coinciding with the expression upregulation in RNA-seq and quantitative PCR of key genes in its pathway, such as AhCHS (0FI6RG), AhCHI (VJQ7J1), AhFLS (4Y1607), AhLDOX (AQ6B1J) and AhANR (IK60LM). Additionally, we found that AhMYB12 (PR7AYB) and AhMYB308 (TG6F30) exhibited increased expression at the early stages (R5 and R6) and decreased at the later ones (R7, R8 and R9). The AhCHS expression acts in synergy with well-known seed maturation regulators, such as the ABA response (e.g., ABI5 and ABI3). The involvement of flavonoid biosynthesis in peanut seed development is suggested here as a contributor to its resilience during the acquisition of physiological quality attributes, highlighting the molecular aspects associated with survival in the dry state.