Search Results (448,474)

To address the problems of high unharvested rates and header loss rates in existing plot-breeding wheat harvesters, this study presents the design of a comb-type header for plot wheat harvesters. Based on the loss suppression mechanism during wheat harvesting, the key components of the comb-type header were designed. To address the issue in which some wheat ears escape combing during the harvesting process, a multi-stage comb-tooth structure was developed. For the problem of seed retention on the bottom plate of the screw conveyor, the telescopic tooth at the feeding port of the screw conveyor was replaced with a scraper, and a rubber plate was added. To determine the optimal combing time, wheat plant posture changes under the action of the nose (hereinafter referred to as the nose) were analyzed through theoretical analysis, simulation, and bench testing. It was determined that the optimal combing moment occurs when the plants begin to rebound to the maximum reverse bending. On this basis, a numerical simulation model of the header combing system was constructed using the discrete element method, with the header loss rate as the evaluation index to explore the influence of the nose height, the machine forward speed, and the combing drum rotation speed on the header performance. A regression model of header loss was constructed using the Box–Behnken response surface method, and the optimal working parameters were determined as follows: a nose height of 554 mm, a machine forward speed of 0.65 m/s, a combing drum rotation speed of 667 r/min, and the predicted loss rate of 8.59%. To verify the operational performance of the comb-type header, a field test of the wheat-harvesting prototype was conducted. The results showed that, under the optimal working parameters, the header loss rate was 7.24%, no wheat ears escaped combing, and no seed retention occurred in the header, which meets the requirements for plot wheat-breeding harvesting. This study provides a theoretical basis for the design and development of small-sized combing harvesters. Full article

The rising volume of sludge production poses significant environmental threats. Sludge has a high moisture content (MC), which increases its disposal and transport expenses. On the other hand, sludge has low dewaterability due to its high concentration of soluble organic compounds. To reduce sludge production, understanding and improving preconditioning and mechanical dewatering are crucial for breakthroughs in advanced sludge dewatering. The sludge samples used in this analysis were obtained from the Sarabium municipal wastewater treatment plant, with a moisture content of 97% and a specific filtration resistance (SRF) of 9.15463 × 10¹⁵ m/kg. Sludge dewatering was enhanced by treating the samples chemically with ferric chloride, aluminum sulfate, Moringa olifera, and cationic polyacrylamide CPAM and physically with wood chips, slag, rice husk, and wheat straw. The experiments examined the sludge’s initial characterization (specific resistance to filtration (SRF) and time to filtrate (TTF)). To verify the structural characteristics (density), elemental composition, and the presence of various functional groups, a characterization investigation was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that chemical conditioning with ferric chloride is better than aluminum sulfate and Moringa. Wood chips also provide better results for physical conditioning than rice husk, wheat straw, and slag. The reaction occurred at the carbonyl group, where FTIR showed more activated sites during SEM analysis, as evidenced by the FTIR results. Still, when CPAM was added to conditioned sludge, there was no difference in sludge dewatering performance, and the activated sites remained unchanged. Hence, this research found that mechanical sludge dewatering was improved by conditioning with ferric chloride (pH of 6 and dose of 0.12 g/g of dry solid) and wood chips (dose of 1.5 g/g of dry solid), which reduced sludge volume after dewatering by 82.5% under low pressure, which in turn minimizes transportation, energy, and handling costs. This study supports SDG 3 and SDG 6 by improving sludge dewatering efficiency and promoting sustainable wastewater management using natural wood chips. Full article

We propose and develop a unified framework for Weyl-type symmetry in von Neumann algebras. Motivated by recent automorphism-rigidity phenomena that identify finite Weyl groups inside automorphism groups of crossed products arising from lattice actions on homogeneous spaces, we introduce the Weyl group of an inclusion $W(M;B):={\mathrm{Aut}}_B\left(M\right)/{\mathrm{Inn}}_B\left(M\right)$, for a unital inclusion $B\subset M$ of von Neumann algebras, and investigate its structure across several rigidity regimes. Our main results (1) prove finiteness or triviality of $W(M;B)$ for large classes of nonamenable crossed products, including hyperbolic and product-type actions with spectral gap and malleability; (2) establish a subgroup-normalizer rigidity principle for inclusions $L\left(\Lambda \right)\subset L\left(\Gamma \right)$ that identifies ${\mathrm{Aut}}_{L\left(\Lambda \right)}\left(L\left(\Gamma \right)\right)$ with a discrete group controlled by $N_{\Gamma }\left(\Lambda \right)$; (3) show that permutation-type symmetry for product/tensor decompositions is the only possible nontrivial symmetry of the underlying group subalgebras; and (4) extend the analysis to type III factors via Maharam extensions and unique-Cartan phenomena, proving that $W(M;B)$ is discrete and often trivial, leaving only modular flows as outer symmetries. Consequences include new computations of outer automorphism groups, constraints on intermediate subalgebras, and classification consequences for crossed products and amalgamated free products. The methods combine Popa’s intertwining-by-bimodules, spectral-gap and s-malleable deformations, boundary/ucp-map rigidity, and groupoid/Cartan techniques. Full article

Introduction: Parkinson’s disease can influence oral health by impairing motor function and altering salivary composition, potentially affecting the oral microbiome. Materials and Methods: The objectives of this study are fourfold: (a) to compare the prevalence of bacterial species associated with periodontal disease in patients with and without Parkinson’s disease (PD), (b) to assess whether the coexistence of periodontal disease in PD patients contributes to an imbalance in the oral microbiome, (c) to evaluate the correlation between periodontal clinical indices (plaque index, tartar index, bleeding index, and probing depth) and the concentrations of specific periodontopathogenic bacterial species, and (d) to explore the potential implications of these evidences for clinical management and preventive strategies in Parkinson’s patients. The main objective of this study is to compare periodontal clinical indices (plaque index, tartar index, bleeding index, and probing depth) and the bacterial profile of patients with periodontal and Parknson’s disease. Two groups were included: 15 patients with periodontal disease (control group) and 16 patients with both periodontal and Parkinson’s disease (study group). Microbial samples were collected from the periodontal pockets at baseline and analyzed using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Perio-Ident 12 kit to detect major periodontal pathogens. Results: Periodontal indices showed no statistically significant differences between groups, although the study group presented lower mean tartar index (49.31% vs. 67.4%, p = 0.069), bleeding on probing (44.31% vs. 56.67%, p = 0.137), and plaque index (66% vs. 68.93%, p = 0.754). Median bacterial loads were generally higher in control group, with Tannerella forsythia, but without statistically significant difference (p = 0.072). Significant correlations between plaque index and multiple pathogens occurred only in control gorup, suggesting disrupted plaque–pathogen dynamics (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results highlight the potential value of integrating clinical and microbiological assessment when managing periodontal disease in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Full article

Fireworks are an important element of celebrations globally, and while there are multiple reports of their negative impact on both domestic and wild animals, there is limited data directly linking them to casualties. In this article, we present a case of mass bird deaths (over 1000) in a forest near a town following New Year’s Eve fireworks. The necropsies showed multiple fractures, organ lacerations, and internal hemorrhages. Rapid tests for avian influenza were negative, and there were no suspicious substances in the gastrointestinal tracts or on the X-ray images. This suggests the most likely reason for the deaths was severe traumatic collision injury induced by unexpected nocturnal disturbance from the fireworks nearby. Full article

Subsistence family farming in Peru is increasingly constrained by ecosystem degradation, climate variability, and limited access to productive services, particularly where environmental exposure is high. This study develops an Agro-productive and Territorial Vulnerability Index (IVAPT) to evaluate environmental, ecosystem, and socioeconomic vulnerability of subsistence agriculture at the district level nationwide. The index integrates district-level agricultural survey data (ENA-2024) with multi-temporal MODIS NDVI series (2000–2024) and comprehensive climatic, topographic, land-cover, and accessibility indicators, processed through multivariate statistics. Three objective weighting schemes (ENTROPY, CRITIC, PCA) construct thematic sub-indices of Environmental Exposure (EnvExp), Ecosystem Condition (EcoCond), and Socioeconomic Capacity (SocioCap). Results show more than half of Peru’s 1552 districts fall within moderate to very high vulnerability, with highest concentration in the Amazon region (Loreto, Ucayali, Madre de Dios), Andean-Amazonian transitions, and highland districts (Huancavelica, Apurímac, Ayacucho, Puno) where biophysical constraints, ecosystem pressure, and socioeconomic isolation converge. Dimensional spatial complementarity EnvExp peaking on coast, EcoCond in Amazon, SocioCap in Andes demonstrates effective vulnerability reduction requires dimension-specific interventions. Despite divergent weighting schemes, spatial patterns remained consistent, validating identified hotspots. IVAPT provides a reproducible framework supporting evidence-based territorial planning and targeted investments in water infrastructure, ecosystem restoration, and climate adaptation. Full article

Comprehensive monitoring of gas extraction parameters is crucial for the safe production of coal mines. However, it is a challenge to collect the overall gas drainage network parameters with limited sensors due to technical and econoincorporating mic constraints. To address this issue, a nonlinear model for gas confluence structure is construed for the conservation of mass, energy, and gas state properties. Considering exogenous variables such as frictional loss correction coefficient (α) and air leakage resistance coefficient (β), as well as the iterative structure of drainage networks, a hybrid PSO–Newton algorithm framework is designed. This framework realizes iterative solutions for multi confluence structures by combining global optimization (PSO) and local nonlinear solving (Newton’s method). A case study using historical monitoring data from the 11,306 working face of S Coal Mine was conducted to evaluate the proposed algorithm at both branch and drill field scale. The results show that key parameters such as gas flow velocity, concentration, and density align with actual observation trends, with most deviations within 10%, verifying the accuracy and effectiveness of the algorithm. A deviation comparison between the standalone Newton’s method and the PSO–Newton algorithm further demonstrates the stability of the latter. By enabling the derivation of comprehensive network parameters from limited monitoring data, this study provides strong support for the intelligent management of coal mine gas extraction. Full article

In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) model is developed based on an actual small forestry crawler tractor, to analyze its overturning and rollover behaviors, and a corresponding simulation model is constructed. The accuracy of the 3D model is validated by comparing its dimensions and center of gravity with those of the physical tractor, and the fidelity of the simulation model is verified using static sidelong falling angle, minimum turning radius, and driving tests. The developed simulation framework was employed to investigate the dynamic behavior of the small forestry crawler tractor, focusing on roll and pitch angular velocities across different obstacle heights, slope angles, and driving speeds. Backward rollover was not observed within the tractor’s realistic operating speed range, indicating that backward rollover is not the dominant risk mode. In contrast, lateral overturning occurs under all driving scenarios, and increases in driving speed and obstacle height lead to higher roll angular velocities, increasing the risk of lateral overturning. Across all conditions, the likelihood of lateral overturning surges when the roll angular velocity enters the 80–100°/s range, with obstacle height exerting the greatest influence. In conclusion, the small forestry crawler tractor is more prone to lateral overturning than backward rollover when driving on inclined surfaces. A distinct threshold roll angular velocity is identified as the onset point of lateral overturning, which will vary according to the tractor’s specifications. This study is a quantitative study of a small forestry crawler tractor and does not correlate with a full-scale tractor. While angular velocity values vary during lateral overturning and backward rollover, this study was conducted to identify trends under various driving conditions. Further work is required to apply the proposed analysis methodology to full-scale agricultural and forestry machinery and validate it with real-world operational data. Full article

This article presents an improved formulation of Newton’s law of cooling using the conformable fractional derivative to model long-term thermal behavior more accurately. A key feature of our approach is the use of the fractional time variable $t^{\gamma }$, which introduces a simple scaling symmetry: the structure of the model remains unchanged even when time is proportionally stretched or compressed. This symmetry-based property provides additional flexibility compared to the classical formulation and enables the derivation of analytical solutions under both constant and non-constant ambient temperature. In particular, we incorporate sinusoidal models for ambient temperature to capture realistic environmental fluctuations over extended periods. Experimental measurements confirm that the conformable model achieves significantly better accuracy than traditional integer-order models. These results highlight the relevance of symmetry and fractional calculus in describing physical processes and demonstrate the potential of conformable methods for improving long-term thermal predictions. Full article

The study of Palaearctic enchytraeid taxonomic richness revealed the limitations of applying morphological identification methods to certain species of the genus Cognettia. The use of molecular approaches enabled the identification of individuals belonging to C. chlorophila among immature and fragmented enchytraeids that had initially been identified morphologically as C. sphagnetorum s.l. These findings substantially extend the known distribution range of C. chlorophila eastward. Reliable distribution data for C. chlorophila and C. sphagnetorum s.s., obtained through genetic analysis, complement existing evidence of their coexistence in shared habitats and highlight questions concerning their biotopic preferences. It is hypothesized that the relatively low level of genetic diversity in these species is associated with potential postglacial dispersal routes of C. sphagnetorum s.l. from Scandinavian refugia and with species-specific biological characteristics. Full article

Background/Objective: Hand hygiene is a cornerstone of infection prevention; however, compliance is inconsistent in intensive care units (ICUs), particularly in resource-constrained settings. This study evaluated whether a low-cost, multimodal quality improvement intervention could improve process-level hand hygiene compliance using routine, episode-based audits embedded in the ICU practice. Methods: We conducted a single-cycle Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement project in a 12-bed mixed medical–surgical ICU in Pakistan (December 2023–January 2024). Hand hygiene performance was assessed using the unit’s routine weekly episode-based audit protocol, aligned with the WHO Five Moments framework. A targeted multimodal intervention comprising education, point-of-care visual reminders, audit feedback, and leadership engagement was implemented between the pre- and post-intervention phases (four weeks each). Non-applicable moments were scored as “compliant by default” according to the institutional protocol. A sensitivity analysis was performed excluding these moments to calculate pure adherence. Compliance proportions were summarized using exact 95% Clopper–Pearson confidence intervals without inferential testing. Results: A total of 942 audit episodes (471 per phase) generated 4710 moment-level assessments were generated. Composite hand hygiene compliance increased from 63.1% pre-intervention to 82.0% post-intervention [absolute increase: 18.9 percentage points (pp)]. Sensitivity analysis excluding non-applicable moments demonstrated pure adherence improvement from 54.2% to 82.5% (+28.3 pp), confirming a genuine behavioral change rather than a measurement artifact. Compliance improved across all five WHO moments, with the largest gains in awareness-dependent moments targeted by the intervention: before touching the patient (+27.0 pp) and after touching patient surroundings (+40.0 pp). Week-by-week compliance remained stable within both phases, without immediate post-intervention decay. Conclusions: A pragmatic, low-cost multimodal intervention embedded in routine ICU workflows was associated with substantial short-term improvements in hand hygiene compliance over a four-week observation period, particularly for awareness-dependent behaviors. Episode-based audit systems can support directional process monitoring in resource-limited critical care settings without the need for electronic surveillance. However, its long-term sustainability beyond one month and generalizability to other settings remain unknown. Sensitivity analyses are essential when using “compliant by default” scoring to distinguish adherence patterns from measurement artifacts. Full article

This article analyzes the long-term relationship between Islam and media in Indonesia through the lens of mediatization. While most research on the mediatization of religion is grounded in Western secular contexts, this study examines how the process unfolds in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, whose religious life and cultural dynamics differ significantly from the Arab world. Using a historical approach, this study traces the evolution of Islamic media from the early twentieth century to the digital era, encompassing prints, broadcast programming, and social media platforms. The findings show that the interaction between Islam and media in Indonesia is a gradual, negotiated transformation shaped by political shifts, technological change, and evolving religious authority. Instead of producing secularization, successive media formats have enabled the continual rearticulation and popularization of Islamic values. New actors such as televangelists and digital preachers have emerged, challenging traditional authorities and prompting adaptations in religious practice to fit media formats and audience expectations. Although commercialization and algorithms sometimes result in a banalized expressions of religion, media developments also create new participatory spaces for religious engagement and personal piety. The study offers a non-Western model of mediatization grounded in Indonesia’s unique media and religious landscape. Full article

Background/Objectives: Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress are key contributors to colorectal cancer (CRC) development. However, prospective evidence in Asian populations remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the associations between circulating inflammatory cytokines, oxidative markers, and CRC risk in a Korean population. Methods: We conducted a case–cohort study nested within the Korean National Cancer Community (KNCCC) Cohort to investigate associations between inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress markers, and CRC risk. A total of 128 incident CRC cases and 822 subcohort participants were included. Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-1β, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-10, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO) were measured. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards models with Barlow’s weighting. Results: Higher serum IL-6 levels were strongly associated with increased CRC risk, with HRs of 6.20 (95% CI: 2.38–16.19), 8.31 (3.24–21.33), and 10.22 (3.95–26.46) for the second through fourth quartiles, compared to the lowest. Detectable levels of IL-1β and IFN-γ were also significantly associated with CRC risk (HRs: 2.16 and 1.53, respectively). Stratified analysis showed that IL-6 and IL-1β were associated with CRC risk in both obese and non-obese participants, while TNF-α, IL-10, and NO were associated with increased risk only among obese individuals. No significant associations were observed for ROS. Conclusions: Elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, IFN-γ) and NO were associated with higher CRC risk, suggesting their potential as early biomarkers. Obesity may modify the associations between certain markers and CRC risk. These findings highlight the role of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress in colorectal carcinogenesis. Full article

With the increasing penetration of renewable energy in China’s power system, wide-band oscillations with multiple modes have emerged, posing new challenges to the assessment of renewable energy oscillation hosting capacity. At present, the construction of artificial intelligence-based assessment models still relies heavily on researchers’ subjective experience when selecting input features, which lacks theoretical justification. Moreover, the expansion of system scale increases data dimensionality and introduces a higher risk of model overfitting. To address these issues, this paper proposes a two-stage key feature selection method based on participation factors and XGBoost. First, the participation factor theory is utilized to establish the functional mapping between system electrical quantities and oscillatory characteristics, enabling an initial identification of the electrical variables most relevant to renewable energy oscillation hosting capacity. Second, to mitigate the curse of dimensionality brought by large-scale systems, a variational autoencoder is employed to compress the initial feature set and extract its latent representations. Finally, XGBoost is applied to these latent representations to further identify the most critical features that accurately reflect the oscillation hosting capacity of renewable energy. Experimental results on a wide-band oscillation dataset show that active power achieves the highest importance score among all features; moreover, a model using only active-power data attains an accuracy of approximately 97%, demonstrating its effectiveness as the most strongly correlated and least redundant key feature subset. Full article

Bacterial zoonoses pose a serious threat to the development of animal husbandry, food safety, and public health. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a major infectious and food-borne pathogen worldwide, and there was an urgent need to develop relevant methodologies for the control of bacterial infections. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of cell-free supernatants (CFSs) produced by selected strains of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (L. plantarum), Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (L. rhamnosus), Streptococcus thermophilus (S. thermophilus), and Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis (B. infantis) to inhibit in vitrogrown S. aureus BNCC 186335. CFSs of S. thermophilus, B. infantis, L. plantarum, and L. rhamnosus not only showed good antibacterial activity against S. aureus but also have strong stability and tolerance, which could destroy the integrity of cell membrane, lead to changes in cell morphology, and then strongly and rapidly kill bacteria. Notably, the primary antimicrobial substances in the CFSs of L. plantarum and L. rhamnosus were organic acids and protein components, whereas the main antimicrobial substances in the CFSs of S. thermophilus and B. infantis were organic acids. Meanwhile, four CFSs achieved substantial removal of biofilms and inhibited decreased ATP content. These findings suggest that the CFSs of S. thermophilus, B. infantis, L. plantarum, and L. rhamnosus may have potential applications as biological preservatives to control the contamination of S. aureus in the food industry and animal husbandry. Full article