Search Results (4,205)

Background/Objectives: Expanded inverted repeats (IRs) occur in Rhododendron plastomes, but their extent and evolutionary context remain incompletely resolved because repeat-rich genomes can be difficult to assemble from short reads. Methods: We assembled and curated the plastome of Rhododendron spinuliferum using publicly available PacBio HiFi reads and evaluated whether the same junction architecture was present using Illumina PE400 reads from a different individual. Results: Bandage-guided graph resolution and junction-spanning reads supported a 209,482 bp quadripartite plastome comprising a 108,321 bp large single-copy (LSC) region, a 2629 bp small single-copy (SSC) region, and two 49,266 bp IRs. All four inferred junctions were supported by HiFi reads and were also detected in the independent Illumina dataset, and short-read mapping covered every reference position without zero-depth sites. In a broad within-genus survey of 26 structurally resolved Rhododendron plastomes, R. spinuliferum had the longest validated conventional IR in the curated dataset. Twenty-four plastomes shared a 19-gene expanded-IR core and retained ndhF in the SSC, whereas R. vialii and R. datiandingense represented extreme SSC contraction and short-IR architecture, respectively. Ancestral-state reconstruction identified the expanded-IR core as the most likely crown state. After one IR copy was removed, repeat density was not correlated with IR length, and comparison with R. delavayi showed that the additional IR sequence in R. spinuliferum was distributed predominantly across intergenic regions. Conclusions: These results provide a validated plastome resource and clarify the structural evolution of expanded IRs in the sampled Rhododendron plastomes. Full article

Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) nut-timber plantations are important for both timber and seed production, yet optimal water and fertilizer management for mature cone-bearing stands remains poorly understood. A two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of three fertilization levels (F1, F2, and F3, corresponding to N:P₂O₅:K₂O application rates of 50:75:25, 100:150:50, and 150:225:75 kg ha⁻¹, respectively) and three soil moisture regimes corresponding to 80%, 60%, and 40% of field capacity (W1, W2, and W3, respectively) on tree growth, cone yield, and soil physicochemical properties in approximately 35-year-old Korean pine plantations established on Albeluvisol at Maoer Mountain, northeastern China. Tree growth and cone yield generally followed the order F2 > F3 > F1 and W2 > W1 > W3, with F2W2 (N:P₂O₅:K₂O = 100:150:50kg ha⁻¹ and 60% of field capacity) consistently producing the best performance. Compared with the control (CK, no fertilizer application, rainfed under natural ambient conditions), F2W2 increased height, diameter, and crown width increments by 46.2%, 71.4%, and 65.6%, respectively, in 2023. Per-tree cone number, total cone mass, and total pine nut mass increased progressively across years, reaching increases of 88.5%, 100.6%, and 132.4%, respectively, in 2024. In contrast, thousand-seed weight showed relatively small changes and a delayed water–fertilizer interaction. Water–fertilizer coupling significantly altered soil physicochemical properties by reducing soil pH under the optimal treatment, while also regulating inorganic nitrogen availability and soil nutrient distribution. Nitrate nitrogen was highest under W2, whereas ammonium nitrogen peaked under W1. Total nitrogen was highest under F3W1, while available phosphorus and potassium accumulated under high fertilization combined with non-optimal soil moisture, but were lowest under F2W2, indicating enhanced nutrient uptake under the optimal treatment. Cluster analysis showed that nitrate nitrogen was positively associated with growth and yield variables. Overall, F2W2 provided the most favorable balance between stand productivity and soil nutrient status, representing an effective water–fertilizer management strategy for mature Korean pine nut-timber plantations on Albeluvisol. These findings provide a scientific basis for precision water and nutrient management in northeastern China. Full article

Background and Objectives: Three-dimensional printing is increasingly used to fabricate dental restorations; however, limited evidence is available on the mechanical performance and fracture behavior of printable resin materials used for endocrown restorations. Fracture load alone may not fully describe material performance, particularly when brittle or defect-sensitive failure occurs. This in vitro study aimed to compare the fracture resistance, Weibull parameters, experimental Mode I fracture toughness parameter, and failure patterns of three 3D-printed resin materials used for endocrown restorations. Materials and Methods: Thirty anatomically identical molar replicas were produced from a single prepared tooth model and restored with endocrowns fabricated from NextDent C&B MFH (NextDent B.V., Soesterberg, The Netherlands), SprintRay Crown (SprintRay Inc., Los Angeles, CA, USA), and BEGO VarseoSmile Crown Plus (BEGO GmbH & Co. KG, Bremen, Germany) (n = 10/group). The restorations were cemented and subjected to compressive loading until fracture. Maximum fracture force values were analyzed using Welch’s ANOVA and Weibull statistics. In parallel, single-edge-notched bend (SENB) specimens were fabricated from the same materials and tested using an ASTM D5045-based configuration to calculate an experimental Mode I fracture toughness parameter. Representative fractured crowns and standardized specimens were examined using stereomicroscopy to assess visible failure morphology. Results: No statistically significant difference in maximum fracture force was found among the three materials (Welch’s ANOVA, p = 0.217). The mean fracture force values were 862.37 N for NextDent C&B MFH, 804.37 N for SprintRay Crown, and 699.43 N for BEGO VarseoSmile Crown Plus. In the complementary analyses, BEGO VarseoSmile Crown Plus showed the highest Weibull modulus (m = 9.36), indicating a narrower distribution of fracture values, and the highest mean experimental Mode I fracture toughness parameter (5.250 MPa·m^0.5) under the present experimental conditions. Qualitative stereomicroscopic analysis revealed material-dependent visible failure patterns: SprintRay Crown exhibited more extensive fragmentation, whereas BEGO VarseoSmile Crown Plus showed a more defined visible fracture pattern with less secondary fragmentation. Conclusions: Fracture load alone was insufficient to characterize the mechanical behavior of the tested materials fully. Weibull parameters, the experimental fracture toughness parameter, and failure morphology provided complementary information and should be considered when evaluating 3D-printed resin materials for endocrown restorations. Full article

Phytophthora root and crown rot causes irreversible canopy decline in citrus before ground-level symptoms appear, yet UAV-based detection still relies almost exclusively on RGB imagery and, in citrus, on leaf-level classification rather than field-scale localisation. This work addresses that gap with a crown-level object-detection pipeline for Phytophthora in orange orchards, in three contributions. First, a mean-initialised patch embedding expansion that adapts a pretrained detection transformer to N-channel input while preserving its DINOv2 representations and activation magnitude, applicable to any ViT-based detector. Second, a two-stage protocol that screens seven vegetation indices (GNDVI, SAVI, EVI, GRVI, ExG, CARI, MCARI) as fourth channels over three seeds; the screening does not resolve them, and GNDVI is retained because both bands of its ratio respond to root dysfunction-induced chlorophyll degradation and both come from a single sensor. Third, a matched-modality comparison isolating the contribution of the architecture from that of the spectral channel. On 1147 georeferenced RGB–multispectral pairs with 5560 expert-annotated instances, RF-DETR + GNDVI attains a test mAP_50:95 of $0.590\pm 0.008$ and mAP₅₀ of $0.873\pm 0.005$ over three seeds, exceeding a YOLO26n baseline on identical four-channel input by 9.6 and 8.4 percentage points at half the resolution, the architecture proving the decisive component and supporting georeferenced crown-level alerts. Full article

The design of regular microreliefs requires process and tool variables that satisfy surface-coverage, lubricant-retention, and residual-depth requirements. This theoretical and computational study formulates the task as a two-objective inverse problem for rigid-ball burnishing of external cylinders and compliant-roller burnishing of internal tubes. The analytical chain maps force or imposed displacement and relative curvature to indentation, elastic recovery, periodic cavity overlap, relative dimple area $F_n$, and specific oil capacity q. A full-factorial grid generates a discrete catalog of process settings and provides the initial seeds for continuous refinement by the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II). Under a common budget of 648 forward evaluations, the two-phase method achieved $95.9\%$ of the median target-centered hypervolume of pure NSGA-II and produced a higher hypervolume than Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) in eight of ten paired runs. A comparison calibrated at the 200 N data point yielded a held-out axial-width error of $-6.5\%$ at 400 N, consistent with the predicted force–width trend under the stated comparison conditions. Morris screening identified imposed displacement as the most influential variable for both objectives, with crown-base thickness also strongly influencing q. The resulting candidates are illustrative model-based solutions that satisfy the stated constraints and lie within the reference machine-coordinate envelope; process-specific calibration and experimental assessment are required before quantitative implementation. Full article

Tunnel excavation in ground comprising a soft upper stratum and a hard lower stratum posed significant challenges, particularly during invert construction using drilling-and-blasting methods, which could disturb the surrounding rock and the installed support system. To address these issues, this study evaluates the feasibility of an alternative support scheme that eliminates the invert by employing expanded arch feet, thereby utilizing the self-bearing capacity of the underlying hard stratum. Both physical model tests and numerical simulations were conducted to compare the structural performance of a conventional lining with an invert against the proposed expanded arch foot lining. Based on the strain measurements and earth pressure cell readings from the physical model tests, together with the internal force and contact pressure results obtained from the numerical simulations, the axial force, bending moment, and contact pressure between the lining and surrounding rock were compared for the two lining schemes. The safety factors were further calculated using the axial force and bending moment at representative sections. The results showed qualitatively consistent trends between the tests and simulations. Compared with the conventional invert lining, the expanded arch foot lining increased the axial force and bending moment at the arch foot and sidewall by 7.95% and 29.60%, respectively, while slightly reducing those at the crown by 4.44% and 3.09%. This indicates that part of the structural demand is transferred from the crown to the arch foot and sidewall, where the enlarged sections provide greater bearing capacity. The contact pressure distributions of the two lining schemes were different. Owing to its closed structural form, the conventional invert lining produced a more favorable contact pressure condition at the sidewall. In contrast, the expanded arch foot lining showed higher safety factors at the arch foot and sidewall, with increases of 89.80% and 36.00% in the model tests and more than 140% in the numerical simulations. Meanwhile, the internal force distributions of the two lining schemes remained generally comparable. These findings indicated that the lining with expanded arch feet provided sufficient structural capacity at critical sections and could serve as a feasible alternative to the conventional lining with an invert, while avoiding the construction-related disadvantages associated with invert excavation. Full article

Expansive mudstone tunnels often suffer long-term convergence and support damage because excavation-induced unloading is coupled with water-induced swelling. This study proposes a particle flow modeling framework for expansive mudstone tunnels by linking tunnel-wall displacement, swelling pressure, and the equivalent particle radius expansion coefficient. Constant-volume swelling pressure tests were first conducted to determine the representative swelling pressure of the mudstone. An independent confined particle model was then established to calibrate the relationship between macroscopic swelling pressure and microscopic particle expansion. The results show that a stable swelling pressure of 300 kPa corresponds to an equivalent particle radius expansion coefficient of 3.11%. Incorporating this calibrated swelling mechanism into the tunnel model indicates that swelling intensifies excavation-induced damage, increasing the final crack number from 1566 to 1852 and enlarging the equivalent damage-zone diameter from 21.6 m to 22.8 m. Under the original support scheme, the damage depth reaches 5.45 m, and the final crown settlement reaches 177.6 mm. After reinforcement, these values decrease to 3.40 m and 81.1 mm, respectively. Field monitoring confirms the predicted deformation-control trend. The proposed framework provides a practical approach for simulating swelling-induced damage evolution and optimizing support design in expansive mudstone tunnels. Full article

Fault fracture zones can act as preferential groundwater flow paths and significantly modify the seepage field around tunnels. To investigate the influence of the fault–tunnel intersection angle on pore water pressure distribution in tunnel surrounding rock, a three-dimensional steady-state Darcy seepage model was established using the F4 fault section of the Yinggeling Tunnel as a representative engineering background. Four cases were considered: a fault-free tunnel and tunnels intersecting fault fracture zones at fault–tunnel intersection angles of 45°, 90°, and 135°. Pore water pressures were extracted at the tunnel crown, invert, and left and right sidewalls at radial distances of 0.2 m and 10 m from the excavation boundary to characterize the near-field and intermediate-to-far-field responses. The results show that the fault fracture zone acts as a preferential drainage pathway and reduces the pore water pressure around the tunnel. Under the baseline permeability condition, the 90° intersection case produces the strongest pressure-relief effect, with peak pore pressure reduction ratios of 23.66–24.24%, followed by the 45° case with reductions of 20.54–22.22%, whereas the 135° case shows a weaker reduction of 4.74–5.36%. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the 90° case generally maintains the strongest pressure-relief effect under most fault-to-rock permeability ratios, although the differences among some intersection-angle cases decrease at high permeability ratios. The near-field surrounding rock exhibits rapid pressure dissipation controlled by tunnel drainage and fault-guided flow, whereas the intermediate-to-far field shows a smoother and more attenuated response. These findings clarify the seepage-control mechanism of the fault–tunnel intersection angle and provide a reference for waterproofing and drainage design in tunnels crossing fault fracture zones. Full article

This study evaluated the influence of the manufacturing method and cementation protocol on the fracture load of zirconia molar crowns. A total of 32 full-contour crowns with a wall thickness of 1 mm were fabricated from 3 mol% yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP). Sixteen crowns were produced by 3D printing (LithaCon 3Y 210, Lithoz) and 16 by milling (e.max ZirCAD LT, Ivoclar Vivadent). Within each manufacturing group, eight crowns were adhesively luted with a dual-cure resin cement (Bifix QM, VOCO) and eight were conventionally cemented with a glass ionomer cement (Ketac Cem, Solventum). All crown–die complexes underwent thermomechanical aging (6000 thermal cycles between 5 °C/55 °C; 1.2 × 10⁶ cycles at 50 N) as a correlate of five years of clinical service, followed by axial loading to failure. The statistical analysis was a two-way ANOVA on log10-transformed fracture loads with manufacturing and cement as fixed effects (α = 0.05). All crowns survived thermomechanical loading without failure. Milled zirconia crowns showed significantly higher fracture loads when adhesively luted (7162 ± 1294 N) compared with conventional cementation (4021 ± 1126 N; p < 0.001). In contrast, no significant differences were observed between adhesive (4986 ± 1301 N) and conventional cementation (5581 ± 1618 N) for 3D-printed zirconia crowns. Additively manufactured crowns exhibited greater variability in fracture loads (broader interquartile ranges) than their milled counterparts. Two-way ANOVA detected a significant Manufacturing × Cement interaction (p < 0.001), indicating that the effect of cementation differed by manufacturing route. Adhesive cementation increased fracture load for milled zirconia, whereas no statistically significant cementation effect was detected for 3D-printed zirconia under the present conditions. Given the sample size and the observed variability, the study was powered to detect very large effects but not medium or small ones; therefore, this non-significant difference should not be interpreted as proof of no effect. Full article

The presence of mistletoe in pine stands has expanded in recent decades, currently threatening Mediterranean forests. Mistletoe outbreaks can make the host trees more vulnerable to intense droughts, which are expected to increase due to climate change. We use multispectral (MS) and LiDAR UAV-derived data to classify Viscum album L. ssp. austriacum infestation levels at individual tree level in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests. First, spectral and structural differences between three infestation levels were assessed employing Kruskal–Wallis test with Benjamini–Hochberg correction and post hoc Dunn’s test for individual tree crowns. Second, classification algorithms were applied to evaluate infestation levels at the individual tree scale by combining UAV-derived datasets. The outcomes revealed significant differences between infestation levels in canopy cover and height based on LiDAR-derived metrics. Significant changes in vegetation vigor were also found through spectral and textural metrics. The highest classification accuracy (0.87) was achieved by the spectral metrics CIRE and NDVI in an SVM model, outperforming models based on the combination of sensor metrics (0.82) or solely LiDAR variables (0.69, MLR). This approach demonstrates their potential for detecting and characterizing morphological changes in up to three levels of mistletoe infestation at individual trees in Mediterranean Scots pine forests, lending support to forest management monitoring. Full article

Accurate stem volume estimation is fundamental to forest resource inventory and carbon stock assessment. Traditional methods rely on destructive sampling, whereas terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) offers a non-destructive alternative. However, the accuracy of individual tree segmentation in structurally complex subtropical natural forests is constrained by crown overlap, species mixing, and vertical stratification. In this study, we developed a semantic voxel-based framework for individual tree segmentation and robust stem volume estimation from plot-level TLS point clouds. The method integrates 3D-CNN-based voxel semantic classification with bottom-up tree growth segmentation, followed by parameter extraction, taper equation fitting, and volume estimation using the sectional measurement method. Evaluation across 18 plots (1451 trees) in Guangxi, Southern China, demonstrated that the proposed method achieved an F-score of 0.881 for individual tree segmentation, significantly outperforming conventional CHM-based (0.533) and geometric voxel-based (0.794) approaches. Optimal taper equations were established for Chinese fir (Zeng Weisheng model, validation R² = 0.943) and Eucalyptus (Yan Ruohai model, validation R² = 0.987). TLS-based volume estimates yielded R² values of 0.94–0.97 and RMSE of 0.022–0.037 m³ per tree, with negligible systematic bias. These findings demonstrate that the proposed semantic voxel framework enables accurate and non-destructive stem volume estimation in complex subtropical forests, providing a practical technological pathway for modernizing forest inventory practices. Full article

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of surface treatments and thermocycling on the shear bond strength of a 3D-printed permanent crown resin. A total of 120 disc-shaped specimens (10 × 3 mm) were fabricated using a 3D printer and randomly assigned to four groups according to surface repair protocols: airborne-particle abrasion with Al₂O₃, bur roughening, 37% orthophosphoric acid etching, and a control group with no surface treatment. All specimens received a silane coupling agent followed by an adhesive resin application, and repair was performed using a highly filled flowable composite. Each group was divided into three subgroups and subjected to 1000, 5000, or 15,000 thermal cycles. Shear bond strength was measured, failure modes were analyzed, and data were evaluated using two-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc test (p < 0.05). The sandblasting group exhibited the highest bond strength (18.7 ± 5.0 MPa), which was significantly higher than the control (12.6 ± 3.7 MPa) and acid-etching (14.2 ± 3.8 MPa) groups (p < 0.05). Aging periods had no significant effect on bond strength (p > 0.05). Additionally, the interaction between surface treatment and thermocycling had no significant effect (p = 0.823). Under the tested conditions, airborne-particle abrasion resulted in the highest shear bond strength of 3D-printed permanent crown resin. Full article

Background and Clinical Significance: Immediate implant placement in mandibular molars represents a clinical challenge due to lower trabecular bone density and anatomical limitations of the interradicular septum. Osseodensification has been proposed as an alternative to improve primary stability in sites with low bone quality. Case Presentation: This report describes the case of a 54-year-old female patient with a mesial root fracture in the lower right first molar, treated by atraumatic extraction followed by immediate implant placement using a densifying drilling protocol. After careful root removal, the interradicular septum was expanded using Versah burs at 1200 rpm, allowing placement of a 4.0 × 7 mm Implacil Duecone implant with a final insertion torque of 25 Ncm. The residual gap was filled with a xenogeneic bone substitute and covered with a dense polytetrafluorethylene membrane for alveolar preservation. Healing progressed uneventfully and, after four months, adequate bone formation was observed, enabling prosthetic rehabilitation with a single ceramic crown. After 4 postoperative years we could find peri-implant tissue stability. Conclusions: The clinical outcome supports current evidence indicating that osseodensification may enhance initial stability and predictability of immediate implants placed in posterior mandibular regions. Full article

This study presents a deep learning–based wildfire behaviour model developed for iFire 2.0, an immersive visualisation project by iCinema, UNSW. The model integrates fuel conditions, ignition points, and weather conditions to simulate fire spread and crown fire activity. It demonstrates the ability to generate unforeseen dynamic scenarios under changing conditions, marking an important step toward modelling and visualising extreme wildfire behaviour, allowing users to modify variables and experience resulting changes in wildfire dynamics. Full article

The “Lord’s Prayer” is a popular Christian prayer. Notwithstanding variations between Mtt. 6:9–13 and Lk. 11:2–4, it has traditionally guided and inspired a range of religious and social activities. Its exceptional status is because it was formulated and taught by Jesus Christ. Using a critical textual and non–exegetical approach and by applying theological and sociological analysis in the Catholic/Orthodox tradition between the prayers in Mtt. 6:9–13 (Lk. 11:2–4) and Jn. 17:1–26 (traditionally named the “High Priestly Prayer”), this research shows that the early editor or redactor who titled Mtt. 6:9–13/Lk. 11:2–4 the “Lord’s Prayer” inadvertently bequeathed a misnomer. In contradistinction, the prayer (if that title must go to just one of Jesus’ prayers) that deserves that title is Jn. 17:1–26 because its rich contents encapsulate what Jesus Christ is all about: soteriology, eschatology, and evangelical sociology. Furthermore, the radical social implications of this prayer due to its pragmatic and paradigmatic emphasis on love, unity, collaboration, and mutual acceptance inevitably resonates with the crisis–ridden modern world. It is recommended that Mtt. 6:9–13/Lk. 11:2–4 be re–titled, while Jn. 17:1–26 is rightly crowned the “Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord’s Prayer should also receive more attention in Christian faith–praxis and the Holy Mass. Full article