Search Results (4,712)

The purpose of this review was to evaluate the current literature using plane-based analyses to describe open-chain proximal-to-distal sport motions and to clarify how these approaches can extend to other activities to advance biomechanical assessment. Open-chain sport motions typically rely on a coordinated rotational axis that allows momentum to be transferred efficiently through the kinetic chain. Although this directional organization is central to performance, most biomechanical studies have relied on discrete, event-based variables rather than modeling the continuous trajectory structure of the movement. This review summarizes applications of motion-plane models in sports and discusses how their conceptual foundations can apply to other movements. Four primary approaches for deriving optimal-fit planes from three-dimensional trajectories are described: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), Orthogonal Least Squares (OLS), and the Functional Swing Plane (FSP). These methods rely on different algebraic formulations to model kinematic trajectories. By comparing their mathematical foundations, strengths, and limitations, we highlight how plane-based models provide a meaningful perspective for examining movement efficiency, movement strategy, and potential injury risk across open-chain proximal-to-distal sports. Future research should apply these models across multiple sports to generate individualized trajectory planes, quantify plane deviation, and integrate measures of joint loading and performance, and may combine models to build motion planes. Full article

In this study, shale samples with diverse lithofacies from the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in the Fuling Field were investigated to evaluate the variations in pore characteristics and methane adsorption capacity (MAC) of different shale lithofacies. A set of experiments were performed, such as total organic carbon (TOC) content, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission–scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), low-pressure gas (CO₂/N₂) adsorption, and high-pressure methane adsorption. Combined with TOC content and mineral composition, three types of shale lithofacies were identified, including organic-rich (OR) argillaceous-rich siliceous (S-3) shale lithofacies, organic-moderate (OM) argillaceous/siliceous mixed (M-2) shale lithofacies, and organic-lean (OL) siliceous-rich argillaceous (CM-1) shale lithofacies. Through detailed comparative analyses, we found that OR S-3 shales possess the maximum TOC content, the most developed heterogeneous organic micro-mesopores, the largest pore volume (PV), and the highest pore surface area (PSA); consequently, they display the strongest MAC. Conversely, OL CM-1 shales have the lowest TOC content and the highest clay content, and thus the smallest PSA and the poorest methane adsorption performance. In conclusion, considering the excellent gas storage potential, sustained shale gas production, and brittle response to hydraulic fracturing, OR S-3 shales are superior to shale gas exploration and exploitation compared with OM M-2 and OL CM-1 shales. Full article

Marine-derived filamentous fungi are a rich source of structurally diverse and biologically active natural products. However, many biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in fungi remain silent under standard conditions. In this study, we employed a metabolic shunting strategy to disrupt azaphilone biosynthesis in the marine-derived fungus Penicillium sclerotiorum E23Y-1A by deleting the pathway-specific regulator gene A00667. HPLC analysis revealed the emergence of new metabolite peaks in the mutant strain Δ667 compared to the wild type. Subsequent purification yielded seven compounds: the mutant produced two novel meroterpenoids sclerotilins A and B (1 and 2) along with the known steroids ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol (3) and cerevisterol (4), while the wild type yielded the known steroid (22E)-5α,8α-epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol (5) and two azaphilones geumsanol G (6) and 5-chloro-3-[(1E,3R,4R,5S)-3,4-dihydroxy-3,5-dimethyl-1-hepten-1-yl]-1,7,8,8a-tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-7-methyl-(7R,8R,8aS)-6H-2-benzopyran-6-one (7). Bioactivity assays showed that compound 6 exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, and compound 3 displayed moderate cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines. These results demonstrate that A00667 is essential for azaphilone biosynthesis and that its disruption leads to the production of structurally distinct natural products, highlighting the potential of pathway engineering to redirect fungal metabolism to yield novel natural products. Full article

The service quality of land trusteeship is often subpar due to farmers’ ineffective supervision of service providers’ opportunistic behaviors. However, the existing literature has not given much attention to this agency issue from the principal–agent theory. Accordingly, this paper analyzes the mechanism of supervision failure leading to the quality risk of land trusteeship services, then applies the IV-Heckman model to empirically test the impact with follow-up survey data of 1138 farmers in China. The study found that: (1) supervision failure has a positive impact on the quality risk of land trusteeship services. The OLS model overestimated the main effect of supervision failure by 23%, while the Heckman model effectively corrected the sample selectivity bias. (2) The results of heterogeneity analysis showed that the effect of supervision failure on the quality risk of different crop types is in the order of cash crops, corn, and wheat. The impact of supervision failure on quality risk in different links is single-link, multi-link, and full-link in that order. (3) The quantile regression shows that the higher the level of quality risk is, the deeper the impact of supervision failure on the quality risk of land trusteeship services is. Accordingly, this paper proposes the following policy insights. First, a sound regulatory mechanism for land trusteeship services should be established. Second, increase the punishment for land trusteeship services violations. Third, establish a digital supervision platform to supervise and evaluate the service process and quality. Full article

Organic semiconductors have the potential to contribute to sustainable electronics manufacture due to their ability to be processed from low-energy solution-processing methods. However, improvements must be made in the lifetime of such devices. PEDOT:PSS, a popular hole transport material, is acidic, which causes degradation in devices over time. Therefore, a replacement is needed to allow for longer lasting organic semiconductor devices. We have previously reported BEDOTPy, a non-acidic, molecular material that could be used to improve the device lifetime of OLEDs. In this work we explore how molecular engineering of BEDOTPy, by modifying the molecule’s side chain, affects the physical properties that are important to device performance and lifetime. Full article

Eight H-bonded salts of arsenic acid and nitrogen bases (2,4,6-trimethylpyridine, pyridine-2,6-diamine, pyridin-4-ol, 4-methoxypyridine, 4-methoxyaniline, 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine, diethylamine and N¹,N¹,N²,N²-tetraethylethane-1,2-diamine) were studied in the solid state by single crystal X-ray diffraction technique and DFT calculations. In all cases quite short (≤2.65 Å) OHO bonds were found in the self-assembled supramolecular ribbons or 2D networks of dihydrogen arsenates, constituting a repertoire of five different H-bonding patterns (motifs). The electron localization function maps revealed the spots of the nucleophilic sites on oxygen atoms that determine the preferable directions for H-bonding of H₂AsO₄⁻ anions observed in the crystal packing. Analysis of the electrostatic potential maps for isolated species has demonstrated that upon H-bonding between H₂AsO₄⁻ anions and protonated nitrogen bases, NH⁺⋯⁻OAsO(OH)₂, the redistribution of electron density within the anion provides otherwise virtually non-existent electrophilic sites on hydrogen atoms, which balances the Coulomb repulsion and allows for the anion⋯anion pairing within the crystal. The topological analysis of the calculated crystalline electron density after relaxation of the hydrogen atoms’ positions was used to classify the OHO bonds as moderately strong ones (with an interaction energy up to 65 kJ/mol) and revealed a high degree of ionicity of molecular moieties within ion pairs (with an absolute charge up to 0.87 e). For the strongest OHO and NHO bonds, the noticeable covalent character was shown by using the crystal orbital Hamiltonian population analysis. Full article

Background: Appraisal for self-care agency (ASAS) is central to cardiovascular disease (CVD) management, yet the influence of loneliness as a social stressor remains under-characterized. Methods: In patients with CVD (N = 80), cross-sectional predictors for ASAS were assessed via ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression; robust methods are supplemented to buffer the sample size. Interaction effects on ASAS were tested between loneliness and physical activity, and loneliness and self-efficacy. Results: The diminishing effect of loneliness explained 10% of ASAS variance and remained significant when controlling for covariates (ß = −1.05, p = 0.031). Self-efficacy (β = 2.97, p = 0.009) and physical activity (β = 5.13, p = 0.001) were positively associated with ASAS, although quantile models indicated heterogeneity: loneliness exerts its effect at low ASAS (τ = 0.25; ß = −1.95, p < 0.001) whereas physical activity is influential at high ASAS (τ = 0.75; ß = 5.21, p < 0.001) and self-efficacy across all levels. Interactions showed a buffering of loneliness’ negative influence on ASAS via physical activity (ß = 3.29, p = 0.044). Conclusions: Self-efficacy is crucial for self-care agency in CVD. While loneliness exerts its strongest detriment at lower self-care levels, physical activity may attenuate loneliness-related vulnerability. These findings support interventions enhancing self-efficacy, promoting activity, and targeting loneliness to improve self-care. Full article

Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is a vital ecological indicator used to monitor land productivity and the health of ecosystems, particularly in climate-sensitive areas like the Eastern Sahel. However, the spatial heterogeneity in the relationships between NPP and environmental factors complicates accurate predictions. This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of geographically weighted statistical and machine learning models in predicting NPP, while considering spatial non-stationarity and non-linear interactions. The study used 939 spatial observations of the NPP in conjunction with four environmental predictors: rainfall, temperature, soil moisture, and elevation, spanning Niger, Chad, and Sudan. Initially, a global Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model was used as a reference point. Subsequently, three geographically weighted models, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), Geographically Weighted Random Forest (GWRF) and Geographically Weighted Neural Network (GWNN) were executed to account for spatial variability and non-linear effects. The performance of the models was assessed using $R^2$, Mean Absolute Error (MSE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and spatial residual diagnostics. All geographically weighted models outperformed the global OLS baseline in terms of both predictive accuracy and spatial sensitivity. GWNN achieved the highest performance ($R^2$ = 0.9360; RMSE = 0.0333), followed closely by GWRF ($R^2$ = 0.9308) and GWR ($R^2$ = 0.9207), compared to OLS ($R^2$ = 0.8354). The residual spatial autocorrelation was completely resolved in GWNN and GWRF. Rainfall was consistently the most significant predictor, while the effects of other variables, such as elevation and temperature, varied between different spatial contexts. The findings of this research emphasise the value of combining spatial weighting with machine learning methodologies to model ecological productivity in heterogeneous landscapes. The GWNN model, in particular, stands out as a powerful tool for improving NPP predictions in regions sensitive to climate change. Full article

The article examines how framing and actor identity structure attention in short-video politics using a country-level corpus from Ecuador. It assembles 4612 public TikTok videos from official accounts and politically salient hashtags, extracts multimodal text via automatic speech recognition and on-screen OCR, and constructs two continuous indices: a quality index (programmatic, efficacy-oriented content) and a populism index (antagonistic, people-versus-elite cues). Engagement is modeled as a fractional response (binomial GLM with logit link), with robustness checks using OLS on logit(ER) and Poisson counts with an offset for log(plays + 1). Models include affect (positive sentiment and anger), hour/day controls, and actor fixed effects (leader, creator, institution, party, and media). The indices display construct validity: quality aligns with positive/joyful tone and populism with anger. Net of controls, populism is positively and consistently associated with engagement across estimators; quality is small and often null or negative. Effects are heterogeneous: leaders gain under both frames, creators primarily under populism, and media modestly under populism, while institutions face penalties under both, and parties show limited returns. Monthly series reveal event-linked intensification of populism, and hashtag networks are modular, mapping onto institutional, partisan, and creator ecosystems. A design analysis identifies a non-populist pathway—benefit-first micro-explanations, concise captions, targeted hashtags, and joyful/efficacy affect—that raises engagement without antagonism. The study contributes a reproducible, open-source pipeline for survey-free, multimodal framing measurement and clarifies how persona × frame interactions and meso-level discursive structure jointly organize attention in short-video politics. Full article

Background/Objectives: Bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) serves multiple physiological roles but accumulates with age, compromising skeletal health. This expansion is largely driven by an adipogenic drift of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs), shifting attention toward stromal cell fate regulation as a target to preserve bone marrow homeostasis. Preventing adipogenic commitment may be as relevant as directly inducing osteogenesis for maintaining a bone-permissive marrow microenvironment. Here, we investigated whether olive leaf extract (OLE) and its purified secoiridoid components, oleacin (OC) and oleuropein aglycone (OA), modulate the adipogenic differentiation and proliferative capacity of human BMSCs. Methods: Human BMSCs were induced to undergo adipogenic differentiation and treated with OLE, OC, or OA. Intracellular lipid accumulation and the expression of key adipogenic regulators were assessed. Proliferative capacity was evaluated under both maintenance and adipogenic conditions. Results: Under adipogenic conditions, OLE markedly reduced intracellular lipid accumulation and induced a coordinated downregulation of PPARγ, PLIN1, FABP4, ADIPOQ, LEP and the adipogenesis-associated miR-422a. In contrast, OC and OA exerted more selective and specific effects on biomarkers, indicating the partial and complementary modulation of adipogenic programs. Notably, OLE also increased BMSC proliferation under both maintenance and adipogenic conditions, suggesting the preservation of a less committed stromal cell pool. Although the relative contribution of enhanced proliferation versus the direct inhibition of adipogenic pathways cannot be fully disentangled, the combined molecular and functional data support a dual action of OLE on stromal cell fate. Conclusions: OLE limits adipogenic commitment while maintaining stromal cell proliferative competence, processes that are critically involved in BMAT expansion and bone marrow dysfunction. OC and OA contribute to OLE bioactivity deserving further investigation, particularly in combination, as potential modulators of BMAT expansion. Full article

As global decarbonization strategies pivot towards the burgeoning sector of recreational mobility, the tension between the attractive force of high-quality amenities and the constraining capacity of transport infrastructure in urban parks has emerged as a critical planning dilemma for high-density metropolises. To disentangle this game mechanism, this study proposes a integrated Dual-Diagnostic Framework that synthesizes a modified gravity model, Grouped OLS regression, and an explainable XGBoost-SHAP algorithm to identify non-linear thresholds under spatial heterogeneity. Leveraging empirical data from Tianjin, a representative high-density metropolis, the analysis reveals a distinct bimodal distribution of carbon emissions from travel to comprehensive parks, confirming a fundamental structural divergence between urban and suburban mobility patterns. Crucially, the non-linear diagnosis uncovers a dominant Facility Configuration Induction mechanism within the suburban interface; here, park scale acts as the primary driver of excess travel, with its induction effect often overriding the mitigation potential of public transit until a specific critical mass is achieved. Consequently, the results identify a rigid threshold for bus station density alongside optimal intervals for park scale, providing quantitative benchmarks and differentiated governance strategies to resolve the paradox between park quality and carbon intensity. Full article

The influence of grape maturity over three consecutive years (2020–2022) on Merlot (Vitis vinifera L.) juice and wine chemical composition was investigated. Grapes were harvested at three time points (H1, H2, and H3) in weekly intervals. Despite the fact that vintage (environmental conditions) had a predominant effect on juice and wine chemical composition, clear separation of samples according to the harvest date was observed in all three vintages. Compounds with the highest contribution towards harvest date separation were common maturity-related juice and wine variables (titratable acidity, pH) as well as some volatiles, whereas differences in total soluble solids between dates were minor and often insignificant. In particular, concentrations of 3-isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine (IBMP), (Z)-3-hexenol, and 1-hexenol in wines decreased with delayed harvest. All the more, concentrations of 3-mercaptohexanol (3MH) were the lowest in wines from H3 in all three years, whereas concentrations of 3-mercaptohexyl acetate (3MHA) and 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-ol (4MMP) were not influenced by harvest date. Other compounds, such as esters and higher alcohols, with the exception of 1-propanol, did not exhibit a common trend related to the harvest date across three vintages. These results indicate that, during late ripening, harvest-related shifts in juice and wine composition occur even when differences in berry sugar concentration (TSS) at harvest are minor. Full article

To investigate the influence of a second-phase mineral on the rheology of mantle peridotite, we conducted high-temperature deformation experiments on dry olivine–clinopyroxene (Ol-Cpx) aggregates. Cylindrical samples were manufactured using hot-isostatic pressing techniques, with Ol as the matrix phase and Cpx added at volume fractions of f_Cpx = 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5. Deformation experiments were performed in a Paterson gas-medium apparatus at a confining pressure of ~300 MPa, temperatures ranging from 1423 to 1523 K, and strain rates of ~5 × 10⁻⁶ s⁻¹, ~1 × 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹, ~2 × 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹, and ~5 × 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹. The stress exponents (n = 3.4–4.3) for two-phase aggregates are comparable to those reported for both pure Ol and pure Cpx, indicating that dislocation creep remains the dominant deformation mechanism. Increasing Cpx content does not induce a transition of dominant mechanism but leads to a slight decrease in activation energy, consistent with predictions from two-phase rheological models and reflecting the increasing contribution of Cpx to bulk deformation. Normalized flow stresses fall between the Ol and Cpx end-members within the Taylor–Sachs bounds, indicating moderate strain partitioning between phases. Aggregates with f_Cpx = 0.5 show slightly reduced strength and lower effective stress exponents. This is attributed to enhanced dynamic recrystallization, which triggers grain-size reduction and thereby increases the contribution of diffusion-assisted deformation, even though dislocation creep remains the dominant mechanism. These results suggest that under dry conditions, Cpx primarily modulates the rheology of olivine-rich aggregates through microstructural evolution and strain partitioning rather than by altering the dominant deformation mechanism. Full article

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are self-renewing, multipotent cells of the central nervous system (CNS) that can differentiate into a range of specialized cell types, including neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes (OLs). Due to their remarkable ability to self-renew and differentiate, NSCs hold immense potential for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). However, clinical translation remains hindered by challenges such as expansion difficulties and phenotypic drift. This review synthesizes evidence on the divergent effects of microgravity on NSC biology. While real spaceflight has been shown to enhance NSC proliferation, it paradoxically reduces neurosphere volume. Microgravity simulations yield contrasting results: rotating wall vessel (RWV) systems promote neuron and astrocyte generation, whereas rotating cell culture systems (RCCSs) inhibit differentiation despite the use of pro-differentiation media. These phenotypic variations critically depend on experimental conditions, cell sources, and observation time. Future research should focus on elucidating cross-pathway interactions and optimizing culture parameters to enable clinical-scale NSC applications. Full article

Management Information Systems (MIS) are increasingly expected to support real-time, evidence-based decision-making and to automate routine workflows. Nevertheless, many organizations still struggle to transform heterogeneous, high-velocity data into trustworthy decision support and process execution at scale. Adopting a socio-technical systems perspective, this study explores the interplay between data infrastructure, analytics capabilities, and decision-making processes. We adopted a mixed-methods design, which incorporated (i) a cross-sectional survey of MIS professionals (n = 150) from organizations across three industries (retail, healthcare, and financial services) and (ii) 12 semi-structured stakeholder interviews. The survey data show that the performance outcomes of the organizations reporting a higher level of BDA and maturity in real-time processing are stronger, characterized by self-reported average revenue growth of 12% among retailers, a material decrease in operational costs, and improvements in overall system efficiency. These figures reflect respondents’ estimates rather than audited financial statements. BDA, real-time processing, and data infrastructure readiness were statistically significant predictors in an OLS regression model of perceived organizational performance, explaining a substantial percentage of variance (R² = 0.72). The insights provided by the interviews explain how these effects were achieved: performance improvements materialized through real-time feedback loops where streaming and batch pipelines were integrated, data-quality controls were embedded in ingestion, and decision outputs were linked to workflow automation. The research contributes a holistic view to the MIS capability framework, linking data infrastructure decisions to the timeliness of decisions and automation preparedness, while contributing to the theoretical refinement of MIS capability frameworks and offering practical guidance for governance and technology selection. Full article