Browse Articles

Structural, dielectric, and radiation shielding properties of erbium doped phosphate glasses

GIS-based landslide susceptibility zonation using weighted overlay analysis with AHP: a case study of Malappuram district, Kerala, India

Techno-economic optimization and sensitivity analysis of a hybrid renewable microgrid for local market electrification in developing countries

Abstract Reliable electricity supply is essential for sustaining commercial activity in rural markets, yet energy planning studies in Bangladesh predominantly rely on residential load assumptions that inadequately represent market-specific demand patterns. This study presents a comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessment of a grid-interactive hybrid renewable microgrid for local market electrification, using Nazipur Noor market as a case study. A realistic market-based load profile capturing pronounced daytime demand concentration, peak coincidence, and seasonal variability is developed. The proposed system integrates solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine (WT), biogas generation (BioGen), battery energy storage (BESS), and utility grid support, optimized using HOMER Pro with hourly resource and demand data. Among 1,056 simulated configurations, the optimal PV–WT–BioGen–BESS–Grid system achieves a net present cost (NPC) of USD 91,255.5 and cost of energy (COE) of USD 0.0167/kWh, with 90.97% renewable fraction while limiting grid purchases to 8.51%. Solar PV, wind, and biogas contribute 48.4%, 25.9%, and 17.2% of annual generation, respectively. The system reduces CO₂ emissions by 83.5% compared with grid-dependent scenarios. Sensitivity analyses identify wind speed, hub height, and electricity sellback rate as dominant performance factors. Results demonstrate renewable-rich microgrids offer cost-effective, scalable solutions for sustainable market electrification in Bangladesh and similar developing regions.

Finite element modeling of direct-buried high-voltage cable ampacity considering dynamic soil thermal properties

Quantitative relationship between cycle threshold values and infectious influenza virus in patient nasopharyngeal samples

Developing strategies to enhance sustainable urban stormwater management: the case of Dambi Dollo Town, Kellem Wollega Zone, Ethiopia

Long-term occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds and progressive pulmonary function decline: a 5-year cohort study in the printing industry

Mapping ammonia emission plumes using shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy

Atmospheric ammonia emissions are harmful to ecosystems and human health. These emissions have traditionally been monitored using thermal infrared spectrometers, though such techniques are limited by thermal contrast requirements, the coarse spatial resolution of existing satellite sensors, and low measurement frequency of higher-resolution aerial surveys. Here, we show that ammonia emissions can be quantified using shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy, circumventing these challenges by using reflected sunlight instead of thermal emission for signal and by enabling a large class of existing and future imaging spectrometers to enter the ammonia observing system. As a proof of concept for this capability, we use Tanager-1 satellite data to quantify emissions from industrial point sources of ammonia in Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

Causal multi-fidelity surrogate forward and inverse models for ICF implosions

Exploration on the influence of menstrual cycle phase on biceps brachii tendon mechanics

Diagnostic performance of an artificial intelligence software for diabetic retinopathy organised screening in a pilot study

Phosphoproteome-derived peptide libraries for deep specificity profiling of phosphatases and phospholyases

Protein phosphorylation is dynamically regulated by the opposing activities of phosphowriter enzymes (kinases) and phosphoeraser enzymes (phosphatases and phospholyases). While significant progress has been made toward defining the sequence preferences of kinases, the selectivity of phosphoerasers has not been explored at scale. Here, we develop an experimental platform based on tandem mass spectrometry analysis of phosphoproteome-derived peptide libraries (PhosPropels) to map phosphoeraser activity across thousands of biologically relevant phosphosites. We extract positional residue preferences to rapidly define sequence motifs recognized by eight phosphoerasers spanning diverse species of origin, protein folds, and enzymatic mechanisms, yielding biological insights into pathways targeted by these enzymes. Taking advantage of the throughput of our approach, we profiled 20 variants of the phosphothreonine lyase OspF from Shigella flexneri , uncovering an intrinsic preference for p38 and Erk MAP kinase activation loops and revealing the enzyme residues that influence its selectivity for phosphothreonine. Our results establish a general method for linking phosphorylation sites to the enzymes that remove them, providing a means to dissect a key component of cellular regulatory networks.

Methyl jasmonate induces conservative trait shifts that improve drought resilience in clonal grass

Social connectedness as a pathway towards climate resilience: exploring climate change scepticism with machine learning approaches and mediation regression models

Bacterial profile, antimicrobial susceptibility, and associated factors of urinary tract infection among people living with HIV at Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia

Integrated biosynthesized silver nanoparticles, chitosan, and Trichoderma asperelloides for managing onion white rot under greenhouse conditions

Abstract Onion white rot, caused by Sclerotium cepivorum ( Stromatinia cepivora ), remains difficult to manage because of the long-term persistence of sclerotia in soil and the limited efficacy of conventional control methods. In this greenhouse study, we evaluated an integrated eco-friendly strategy comprising Trichoderma asperelloides , biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and an AgNP–chitosan formulation to suppress onion white rot and improve plant performance. The pathogen and antagonistic isolate were identified morphologically and molecularly, and the synthesized nanomaterials were physicochemically characterized. Among all treatments, the combined AgNP–chitosan +  T. asperelloides treatment showed the strongest effect, reducing disease severity by 94.3% relative to the infected control and significantly improving bulb fresh weight, leaf length, and leaf number. This treatment also reduced malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide contents and was associated with increased antioxidant enzyme activities. These findings suggest that the integrated treatment may act through a synergistic combination of direct pathogen suppression and improved regulation of oxidative stress in treated plants. Overall, the results support the potential of this nano-biological strategy for managing onion white rot under controlled greenhouse conditions, although field validation is still required.

Quantitative characterization of crack coalescence mechanisms in granite at the mesoscopic scale using deep learning

Hyaluronate-coated novasomes as a nanoplatform for targeted delivery of Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla extract: formulation, characterization, and phytochemical profiling

Abstract Hyaluronate-coated novasomes as an eco-innovative delivery system to enhance the antimicrobial and antioxidant efficacy of Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla (BV) aerial parts extracts were developed and characterised in this study. The phytochemical profile was established using GC-MS and LC-MS/MS, along with the isolation of key biomarkers. Two novasome formulations (BV1 and BV2) were synthesized, and the optimized BV1 was subjected to comprehensive characterization, including encapsulation efficiency (EE), particle size, zeta potential, FTIR, and TEM. The biological activities were evaluated via DPPH radical scavenging and agar well assays against Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , and Candida albicans . GC-MS analysis of the dichloromethane fraction identified 15 compounds (89.64%), dominated by fatty acids: oleic acid (30.52%), palmitic acid (21.92%), and stearic acid (10.50%). LC-MS/MS analysis of the ethanolic extract revealed 33 metabolites, primarily flavonoids and phenolic acids. The isolated compounds included oleanolic acid, campesterol, isovitexin, and apigenin- O -hexoside. While the crude extract exhibited limited antimicrobial activity (effective only against C. albicans ), encapsulation within hyaluronate-coated novasomes significantly enhanced its biopotency. BV1 exhibited some inhibitory trends against all tested microorganisms, whereas BV2 was effective only against bacterial strains. Regarding radical scavenging activity, BV1 exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity (IC 50 33.4 µL/mL) than the crude extract (IC 50 55.2 µL/mL ) and BV2 (IC 50 82.6 µL/mL). The results demonstrate that hyaluronate-coated novasomes serve as a superior delivery vehicle, expanding the limited antimicrobial profile of Beta vulgaris extract and preserving its antioxidant capacity.

In-vivo detection of cervical cancer lesions using hyperspectral colposcopy

Experimental evolution of cellular miniaturization reveals a putative mechanism for cell size evolution

Cell volume, a key determinant of physiology, is maintained by cell size homeostasis. Large deviations from typical size are often harmful, yet cell sizes have diverged drastically during evolution. How size homeostasis evolves to support such diversity without impairing cellular function remains unclear. To address this question, we used experimental evolution to progressively select for smaller Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Over 1,500 generations, we achieved a fourfold modal volume reduction compared to wild type. Despite this reduction, evolved populations maintained robust size homeostasis and relatively high fitness, revealing that substantial decreases in cell volume can occur without severe growth defects. Whole-genome sequencing and genetic perturbations identified mutations in the G1 cyclin Cln3 and the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) pathway effector Sch9 as major contributors to cell size reduction, with the Greatwall kinase Rim15 signaling cascade further modulating this phenotype. Manipulating these pathways produced a sixfold range in cell size without changes in ploidy, with engineered mutations recapitulating the volumes of evolved lines, and loss-of-function mutations yielding enlarged cells. Our results demonstrate the evolutionary plasticity of cell size homeostasis and reveal a putative mechanism for eukaryotic cell size evolution.