Browse Articles

The development and validation of a performance infill tracking system to investigate rotational traction mechanisms on artificial turf surfaces

Abstract The scientific principles governing the generation of rotational traction forces on artificial turf remain poorly understood; as such, a photogrammetry technique has been developed to understand the interactions occurring at the boot-surface interface. Videos were recorded through a transparent test foot during rotational traction testing on an artificial turf surface “seeded” with distinguishable performance infill particles. A novel particle tracking software then measured the movement of seeded particles. To determine the uncertainty in the methodology, a gold-standard measurement system determined the distances between 28 fiducial markers. The same marker-to-marker distances were measured using the particle tracking software. For ten static and ten rotating trials, the random bias in the particle tracking software distances was ± 0.89 mm to ± 1.07 mm, respectively. A pilot study on a third-generation artificial turf surface assessed the software’s ability to track infill particles during rotational traction testing. Trials were conducted at two normal loads; particle positions and angular displacements were successfully measured over 40° of rotation and synchronised with torque, angle, and vertical displacement data. A greater number of infill particles were lost during tracking at lower normal loads. This novel methodology represents a useful development in understanding the generation of traction forces, helping to inform future generations of artificial turf and studded footwear.

Impact of regional driving behavior differences on traffic flow

Plakoglobin does not participate in endothelial barrier stabilization mediated by cAMP

Abstract Critical for maintenance of endothelial barrier is the remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton and the precise control of junctional integrity. Plakoglobin (PG) is a structural and signaling protein involved in vascular permeability regulation together with key signaling molecules such as cAMP, Rho GTPases and actin-binding proteins. Here, we investigated the role of PG in cAMP-mediated endothelial barrier stabilization by establishing myocardial endothelial cells derived from wild type (WT) and PG knock-out (PG-KO) mice. Under basal conditions, TEER measurements showed increased barrier function of PG-KO, an effect associated with enhanced protein levels and junctional VE-cadherin and β-catenin accumulation. PG-KO cells also displayed more PECAM-1 and VE-PTP-phosphatase and less phosphorylated VE-cadherin, typically linked with modulation of junctional integrity. PG ablation neither changed the composition of VE-cadherin/β-catenin complex nor activities of Rac1 and RhoA but decreased the basal intracellular cAMP concentration. Remarkably, cAMP augmentation led to enhanced Rac1 activity and TEER in both cell lines, but the effect was less prominent in PG-KO. The tighter barrier in WT was paralleled with more VE-cadherin, β-catenin and cortactin, an actin-binding protein, towards junctions. Surprisingly, PG phosphorylation at Ser665 was not required for cAMP-mediated endothelial barrier integrity, which is different to cardiomyocyte and keratinocyte cell adhesion.

An efficient algorithm for pedestrian fall detection in various image degradation scenarios based on YOLOv8n

Optimizing the axis ratio of elliptical PCM encasement for enhanced thermal performance in radiant floor heating systems

Association between exposure to volatile organic compounds and atherogenic index of plasma in NHANES 2011–2018

Effectiveness of drone-based thermal sensors in optimizing controlled environment agriculture performance under arid conditions

Abstract Controlled environmental agriculture (CEA), integrated with internet of things and wireless sensor network (WSN) technologies, offers advanced tools for real-time monitoring and assessment of microclimate and plant health/stress. Drone applications have emerged as transformative technology with significant potential for CEA. However, adoption and practical implementation of such technologies remain limited, particularly in arid regions. Despite their advantages in agriculture, drones have yet to gain widespread utilization in CEA systems. This study investigates the effectiveness of drone-based thermal imaging (DBTI) in optimizing CEA performance and monitoring plant health under arid conditions. Several WSN sensors were deployed to track microclimatic variations within the CEA environment. A novel method was developed for assessing canopy temperature (Tc) using thermocouples and DBTI. The crop water stress index (CWSI) was computed based on Tc extracted from DBTI. Findings revealed that DBTI effectively distinguished between all treatments, with Tc detection exhibiting a strong correlation (R2 = 0.959) with sensor-based measurements. Results confirmed a direct relationship between CWSI and Tc, as well as a significant association between soil moisture content and CWSI. This research demonstrates that DBTI can enhance irrigation scheduling accuracy and provide precise evapotranspiration (ETc) estimates at specific spatiotemporal scales, contributing to improved water and food security.

River floating object detection with transformer model in real time

Oncological outcomes of breast-conserving surgery versus mastectomy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a contemporary multicenter cohort

Abstract To evaluate local recurrence (LR), distant recurrence (DR) and death in non-metastatic patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCS) or mastectomy following current neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) regimens. Patients submitted to NAC in 2013–2023 were evaluated (n = 365; mastectomy: 165; BCS: 200). More mastectomy patients were over 70 years old (12.7% versus 7%; p = 0.02) and had T4b tumors (16.4% versus 4.5%; p = 0.0003), whereas more BCS patients had node-negative axilla (42% versus 31.5%; p = 0.02). After a mean follow-up of 65 months (range: 4-124), LR and DR were similar in the mastectomy and BCS groups (4.8% versus 5.0%; p = 0.95 and 10.9% versus 9%; p = 0.58, respectively). More deaths occurred in the mastectomy group (8.5% versus 3%; p = 0.03). Ten-year LR-free survival was higher in the BCS group (98.5% versus 95%; HR: 3.41; 1.09–10.64; p = 0.03), while 10-year DR-free survival was similar in both groups (91% BCS versus 89% mastectomy, HR: 1.25; 0.65–2.42; p = 0.4). Overall survival was better in the BCS group (97% versus 91.5%; HR: 2.62; 1.06–6.69; p = 0.03). Estimated 10-year disease-free survival, stratified according to tumor stage, showed no significant difference except for T4 disease, for which the risk was greater in the mastectomy group (94.5% versus 81.8%; HR: 2.86, 1.54–5.30, p = 0.0008). In the multivariate analysis, T3/T4 staging (OR: 4.37, 1.03–21.91; p = 0.04) and axillary dissection (OR: 5.11, 1.14–35.52; p = 0.04) were associated with LR in the BCS group. In this cohort of patients receiving contemporary NAC, BCS proved to be a safe alternative to mastectomy following treatment with NAC, even in cases of locally advanced BC.

The impact of vestibular-autonomic blood pressure responses derived from the head-up Tilt test on benign paroxysmal positional vertigo recurrence

Role of raw Ilmenite nanoparticles in Rhodamine B degradation using peroxymonosulfate and graphitic carbon nitride

Exploiting adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems for cognitive patterns in multimodal brain signal analysis

Phosphate-dependent nuclear export via a non-classical NES class recognized by exportin Msn5

Near-field imaging of synthetic dimensional integrated plasmonic topological Harper nanochains

Genetic compatibility and ecological connectivity drive the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes

Abstract The dissemination of mobile antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via horizontal gene transfer is a significant threat to public health globally. The flow of ARGs into and between pathogens, however, remains poorly understood, limiting our ability to develop strategies for managing the antibiotic resistance crisis. Therefore, we aim to identify genetic and ecological factors that are fundamental for successful horizontal ARG transfer. We used a phylogenetic method to identify instances of horizontal ARG transfer in ~1 million bacterial genomes. This data was then integrated with >20,000 metagenomes representing animal, human, soil, water, and wastewater microbiomes to develop random forest models that can reliably predict horizontal ARG transfer between bacteria. Our results suggest that genetic incompatibility, measured as nucleotide composition dissimilarity, negatively influences the likelihood of transfer of ARGs between evolutionarily divergent bacteria. Conversely, environmental co-occurrence increases the likelihood, especially in humans and wastewater, in which several environment-specific dissemination patterns are observed. This study provides data-driven ways to predict the spread of ARGs and provides insights into the mechanisms governing this evolutionary process.

Isolable zero-valent Ditin(0) and Diplumbum(0) complexes

Abstract Although complexes with monatomic zero-valent main group centers have been reported, diatomic zero-valent complexes are extremely rare and all previously reported examples were stabilized by either carbene or silylene ligands. Here, we present the isolation of diatomic E(0)-E(0) (E = Sn, Pb) species supported by two [N{CH₂CH₂NPiPr₂}₃Sn] fragments. The reaction of trilithium salt N{CH2CH2NLiPiPr2}3 with SnCl2 yields complex [N{CH2CH2NPiPr2}3]2Sn3 (1) with a Sn3 chain. The reduction of the mixture of 1 and SnCl2 with KC8 produces the catenated Sn4 chain [N{CH2CH2NPiPr2}3Sn2]2 (2), featuring a diatomic Sn(0)-Sn(0) unit. Further reduction of 2 with KC8 yields the alkali metal ion-bridged complex [N{CH2CH2NPiPr2}3SnK]2 (3). Moreover, the reaction of 3 with PbI2 and KC8 affords [N{CH2CH2NPiPr2}3SnPb]2 (4), which can also be generated by the reaction of KC8 with PbI2 and [N{CH2CH2NPiPr2}3SnLi]2 (5). Complex 4 features a diatomic Pb(0)-Pb(0) unit, representing a heavy diatomic zero-valent main group complex. The presence of diatomic E(0)-E(0) (E = Sn, Pb) units in complexes 2 and 4, respectively, is further confirmed by computational studies.

Predicting orthognathic surgery results as postoperative lateral cephalograms using graph neural networks and diffusion models

Ultrastrong eutectogels engineered via integrated mechanical training in molecular and structural engineering

Sunlight-driven simultaneous CO2 reduction and water oxidation using indium-organic framework heterostructures

Abstract Overall artificial photosynthesis, as a promising approach for sunlight-driven CO2 recycling, requires photocatalysts with efficient light adsorption and separate active sites for coupling with H2O oxidation. Here we show a In-based metal–organic framework (MOF) heterostructure, i.e., In-porphyrin (In-TCPP) nanosheets enveloping an In-NH2-MIL-68 (M68N) core, via a facile one-pot synthesis that utilises competitive nucleation and growth of two organic linkers with In nodes. The coherent interfaces of the core@shell MOFs assure the structural stability of heterostructure, which will function as heterojunctions to facilitate the efficient transfer of photogenerated charge for overall photosynthesis. The In-TCPP shell in MOFs heterostructure improves CO2 adsorption capabilities and visible light absorption to enhance the photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Simultaneously, In-O sites in M68N core efficiently catalyze H2O oxidation, achieving high yields of HCOOH (397.5 μmol g−1 h−1) and H2O2 (321.2 μmol g−1 h−1) under focused sunlight irradiation. The superior performance of this heterostructure in overall photosynthesis, coupled with its straightforward synthesis, shows great potential for mitigating carbon emissions and producing valuable chemicals using solar energy.

Best practices for in-situ and operando techniques within electrocatalytic systems